Vietnam accelerates green economy

Vietnam has become one of the first countries in the world to have a set of criteria and a program on net emission reduction.

Just two years after Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh 's commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 at COP26 in 2021, Vietnam has become one of the first countries in the world to have a set of criteria for achieving this goal. Rapid and strong steps are marking a "green" Vietnam in the new "game" of global trade and investment.

VN is one of the countries producing electric vehicles, switching to green transportation.

NHAT THINH

Not just "empty words"

Directly participating in the working delegation of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attending COP28 in the UAE in early December 2023, Mr. Do Van Su, Deputy Director of the Foreign Investment Agency (Ministry of Planning and Investment), proudly shared that Vietnam is among the first few countries in the world to have a set of criteria and a program on net emissions reduction. The Net Zero Tracker climate monitoring group at COP28 warned that most countries and territories that have committed to a net zero carbon emissions target have not announced any plans to phase out fossil fuels, which puts the commitments at risk of being just "empty words". There are about 150 countries and territories that have made a general commitment to a net zero emissions target, but only 13% of them have at least one specific plan on gas reduction. "This really surprised many agencies present at COP28 because we are not the leading country in emission reduction and green growth, but we have done it very quickly and actively," said Mr. Do Van Su.

Produced at Duy Tan Recycled Plastic Company

CTV

In fact, right after the Prime Minister's commitment to 25,000 delegates from 200 countries and territories attending COP26, Vietnam completed the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) Report, carefully reviewed strategies and policies as well as updated policies to be consistent with the commitment to net zero emissions, including the National Strategy on Climate Change for the period up to 2050 and the Vietnam Power Development Plan (PDP8). In addition, the Prime Minister approved the Action Plan to reduce at least 30% of total methane emissions by 2030 compared to 2020 levels in crop and livestock farming, solid waste management, wastewater treatment, oil and gas exploitation, coal mining and fossil fuel consumption. In parallel, the Government has also issued an Action Program on green energy transition, reducing carbon and methane emissions in the transport sector to seek ways to develop the transport sector and promote clean transport nationwide, including promoting the use of electric vehicles, promoting physical infrastructure including charging sources as well as promoting electric public transport systems. In particular, Vietnam's agreement with the International Partnership Group (IPG) on establishing a Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) with commitments to concretize and outline a roadmap to accelerate the energy transition process has really made an impression. The policy on climate change was once again reaffirmed by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at COP28 along with 12 major, comprehensive measures that Vietnam has implemented, and the announcement of the Resource Mobilization Plan for implementing a Just Energy Transition has attracted high attention and commitment of support from international organizations. In many discussions, Vietnam has been repeatedly mentioned as a successful model that needs to be replicated in responding to climate change. Many countries have affirmed that they will support and accompany our country in energy transition and improving adaptation capacity, thereby contributing to promoting Vietnam's green growth and protecting the earth.

The first country to export green mobility services

Immediately after being listed among the first few countries with a set of criteria and programs on net emission reduction, Vietnam continues to become the first country in the world to export green mobility services with the event of GSM Green & Smart Mobility Joint Stock Company officially launching the first electric taxi service in Laos. On the afternoon of November 9, 2023, more than 150 VinFast VF 5 Plus cars in the distinctive green-blue color of the Green SM brand lined up neatly, as if to soothe the scorching sun of the capital Vientiane. Although Laos's car-using culture is ahead of Vietnam's, Vinfast has confidently chosen to "hit" the newest market, the most advanced technology, which is electric vehicles, and green services. As commented by Dr. Vo Tri Thanh, Director of the Institute for Brand Strategy and Competitiveness Research, service export is not a new factor for Vietnam. We have exported many types of services such as tourism, logistics, telecommunications, banking... However, we mainly export goods and have a trade deficit in services. Xanh SM once again brings Vietnam's taxi service back to conquer the Lao market, contributing to expanding Vietnam's service export market, creating a trend of diversifying the types of services offered to the world. Vietnam's electric taxi brand in Laos not only serves Lao people but also contributes to promoting the image of Vietnamese enterprises and Vietnamese brands to international friends. Along with bringing Vietnam's electric taxi brand to the international level, Xanh SM is also gradually greening Vietnam's streets. The Taxi Xanh SM application reached 100,000 downloads on the first day of its launch and to date, has reached millions of downloads on both CH Play and App Store, always ranking top 1 on the App Store Travel category, and always in the top of the free app rankings on the iOS platform. The first pure electric taxi company in Vietnam as well as in the world took only 38 days to realize a trillion-dollar project, 51 days to recruit 1,700 employees covering the two largest cities in Vietnam. After more than 7 months since starting operations, GSM has a staff of up to 30,000 people, of which more than 14,000 are taxi drivers. It is expected that the fleet will reach 30,000 electric cars and 60,000 electric motorbikes in the next few months. The number of GSM cars and drivers is now equal to or even more than that of long-standing taxi companies. Local authorities across the country are also strongly promoting policies to implement the green vehicle conversion, with Ho Chi Minh City taking the lead. In January 2022, the city launched a study on a plan to "eliminate" gasoline vehicles and cover them with electric vehicles through the project "Transportation Initiative in NDC in Asian Countries - NDC TIA" funded by the German Government to promote low-carbon transport development and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. At that time, Ho Chi Minh City's aspiration to become the first city in Vietnam to develop electric transport was not much interested, even receiving many concerns about its feasibility. However, just 2 months after announcing the plan, Ho Chi Minh City officially piloted the first electric bus route, opening the process of diversifying buses using clean energy. Most recently, the city plans to issue a project to support people to change to electric motorbikes and implement it in the first quarter of 2024, after obtaining a legal basis from Resolution 98 of the National Assembly on a special mechanism for the development of Ho Chi Minh City. In particular, there will be priority policies to support people to change old motorbikes using fossil fuels to new vehicles such as electric vehicles and vehicles using clean fuels. The policy is built according to each level: encouragement, support and incentives. In parallel, the Department of Transport of Ho Chi Minh City is also researching to prioritize a 100% electric vehicle pilot in Can Gio District and some areas in the inner city. Along with that, it is accelerating the roadmap to convert taxis, buses, cars purchased by state agencies... to electric vehicles. Following Ho Chi Minh City, the capital Hanoi has successively put electric buses, buses using clean CNG fuel and urban bicycles into operation. Da Nang, Hue, Ba Ria-Vung Tau... have also begun to take the first steps in converting to green vehicles by encouraging people to use public bicycles, combined with the bus network gradually switching to using clean CNG fuel. Electric motorbikes and electric cars have gradually become familiar to Vietnamese people. Our country also owns the world's largest charging station infrastructure. Although we joined the race late, we are accelerating very quickly on the green transportation journey.

Promoting green economy, circular economy

Not only the progress of electric cars, a series of enterprises have gradually transformed to develop green economy , circular economy. For example, Nestlé VN has shifted to a circular economy model from product design to turning waste into valuable raw materials, to protect the environment and resources. Similarly, all of Heineken VN's product packaging is now recyclable. More than 98% of plastic crates are collected and reused from 5 to more than 10 years, 97% of glass bottles are reused more than 30 times, aluminum cans are produced with 40% recycled aluminum and 100% recycled paper is used to produce carton boxes. Or a Vietnamese company pioneering in the recycling field, Duy Tan Recycled Plastic Joint Stock Company, has so far received a total of 23 international quality certifications, the most prominent of which are the FDA certification from the US Food and Drug Administration, and the EFSA certification from the European Food Safety Agency. This has helped the company's products to be exported quite smoothly. Every year, Duy Tan Recycled Plastic exports 5,000 tons of raw plastic pellets to the US but has never been returned. Currently, the export rate accounts for nearly 60%, the rest is domestic. The company hopes that in the coming years it can continue to cooperate with Vietnamese enterprises to increase the domestic consumption rate to 50%... According to Dr. Nguyen Quoc Viet, Deputy Director of the Institute for Economic and Policy Research (VEPR) under the School of Economics (VNU Hanoi), implementing the roadmap to reduce emissions to 0 or the circular economy is creating pressure for all enterprises, especially export production units. Because some exported goods from 2024 are required to meet carbon emission reduction conditions or pay carbon emission fees when entering the EU market. This production transition will also be a cost burden for businesses, especially in the context that the global economy in 2024 is forecast to not have fully recovered and Vietnam's economy cannot grow as high as before the pandemic. Therefore, the Government needs to have solutions to support businesses in shifting to green production and circular economy. Mr. Viet proposed supporting financial solutions, aiming to have priority loans for businesses that make changes to machinery and technology, including foreign-invested enterprises. In addition, it is necessary to accelerate market mechanisms to promote renewable energy production, increasing the proportion of this product in Vietnam's electricity supply. Because many regulations will require exporting enterprises to prove clean, green energy sources in the production process. In addition, Dr. Nguyen Quoc Viet emphasized: Solutions and roadmaps for implementing green production and reducing emissions need to be carefully considered for each manufacturing industry so that businesses can implement them because they cannot be rushed or greened immediately in the context of businesses still facing many difficulties.

Mrs. Ramla Khalidi

VNA

We appreciate the Government and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) for their pioneering efforts related to JETP over the past several months, most recently the preparation of a comprehensive draft JETP Resource Mobilization Plan for its launch at COP28. By accelerating the transition to a green economy while ensuring decent work and equitable aspects of the transition, Vietnam can achieve its net zero emissions target and achieve its energy transition and sustainable development goals.

Grandma   Ramla Khalidi, UNDP Representative in Vietnam

Issuing the Green Growth Statistical Indicators Set On November 1, 2023, the Minister of Planning and Investment issued Circular No. 10 stipulating the Green Growth Statistical Indicators Set. This is the basis for monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the National Green Growth Strategy for the period 2021 - 2030, with a vision to 2050 in provinces and centrally run cities and the whole country. The Green Growth Statistical Indicators Set includes 4 main goals: Reducing greenhouse gas emissions intensity per GDP; Greening economic sectors (including the fields of energy, transportation, agriculture, trade - services, technology, investment capital, bonds, credit, forest resources, mineral resources, water resources); Goal 3 is Greening lifestyles and promoting sustainable consumption (environment, society; urban; Government). The ultimate goal is Greening the transition process on the principles of equality, inclusiveness, and enhancing resilience.

National Action Plan on Circular Economy The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has drafted a National Action Plan on Circular Economy and sent it to ministries, branches, localities, and the business community for wide comments. The draft has identified 5 main viewpoints, general goals, and specific goals from now until 2025 and until 2030 for implementing the circular economy in Vietnam to promote the process of transforming the economic model towards sustainability, turning waste into resources, carbon neutrality, and net zero emissions by 2050. On that basis, the draft proposes applying 16 indicators to evaluate the implementation of the circular economy at the national level, divided into 3 groups: Group of indicators on efficient use of resources, materials, energy saving, and renewable energy development; group of indicators on extending product life cycles, limiting waste generation, and reducing negative impacts on the environment; group of indicators on socio-economic efficiency, innovation and sustainability.

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