Attending the meeting, on the side of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, there were leaders and representatives of the following units: Department of International Cooperation; Department of Environment; Vietnam Sea and Islands Administration; Department of Climate Change; Department of Environmental Pollution Control; Ministry Office.
On the Japanese side, there was the participation of Mr. YAMADA Takio, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Vietnam; Leaders of specialized units of the Japanese Ministry of Environment.
Welcoming the delegation of the Japanese Ministry of Environment to visit and work with the Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Minister Dang Quoc Khanh affirmed that Vietnam and Japan have a close relationship. Japan has always been one of Vietnam's leading strategic partners. In recent times, the relationship between the two countries has had many bright spots, including in the fields of natural resources and environment.
Emphasizing that the Vietnam-Japan relationship is at a very good stage of development, Japanese Minister of Environment Nishimura Akihiro expressed that Japan always accompanies Vietnam in protecting the environment and responding to climate change for sustainable development.
Opening up the space for cooperation between the two countries in general and the two ministries in particular, Minister Nishimura Akihiro informed that Japan has developed the ASEAN Strategic Program on Climate and Environment (SPACE). This is an initiative that Japan wants to include in the Japan Summit Report in September, and Japan hopes that Vietnam will support this proposal.
Discussing specific environmental issues, Mr. Nishimura Akihiro paid special attention to cooperation on ocean plastic waste, due to its great impacts on the environment and human health. “It is estimated that, if there are no preventive measures, by 2050, there will be more plastic waste than fish. When plastic waste decomposes, it will become microplastics, enter the bodies of marine life, and directly affect humans when we consume it,” said Mr. Nishimura Akihiro.
To find solutions to deal with ocean plastic waste, the Japanese Minister of Environment proposed to coordinate with Vietnam to survey and monitor ocean plastic waste, thereby creating a Handbook to guide the improvement of monitoring and survey techniques and inviting Vietnamese experts to Japan for training on this technology.
In addition, for waste from the mainland, especially electronic waste, Minister Nishimura Akihiro said that Japan also has experience in processing to help "restore resources". "We often think that resource mines are located in mountainous areas, but we see that: mines are right in urban areas, because the waste we throw away is actually a resource mine if we know how to exploit and utilize it" - the Japanese Minister of the Environment explained.
Agreeing with the opinions of Minister Nishimura Akihiro, Minister Dang Quoc Khanh shared that to combat ocean plastic waste, it is necessary to monitor the amount of waste released and floating in the sea, and have measures to classify, collect and treat plastic waste. At the same time, the two sides can consider supporting fishermen to convert plastic tools and items to more environmentally friendly and sustainable items. Minister Dang Quoc Khanh also highly appreciated the idea of "returning resources", because this is the implementation of a green economy and a circular economy.
Discussing cooperation in responding to climate change, Minister Dang Quoc Khanh informed that Vietnam is one of the countries greatly affected by climate change. The most obvious impacts of climate change in Vietnam are landslides in the northern mountainous region, geological changes in the Central Highlands, and river and sea landslides in the Mekong Delta.
Minister Dang Quoc Khanh affirmed that Vietnam has always been a pioneer in responding to climate change, as evidenced by the Prime Minister's commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2050, and has been working with developed countries to implement the Political Declaration on the establishment of the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP). On this occasion, Minister Dang Quoc Khanh asked Minister Nishimura Akihiro to continue to pay attention, share, and support Vietnam in building a carbon credit market, helping Vietnam improve its capacity to forecast and warn of natural disasters.
Acknowledging the opinion of Minister Dang Quoc Khanh, Minister Nishimura Akihiro said that in order to adapt to and minimize the impacts of climate change, countries need to implement Article 6 of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Accordingly, it is necessary to strengthen the development of the global carbon market and attract private investment to contribute to the growth of countries around the world...
To achieve that goal, the task is to build the capacity of relevant parties. At COP27, Japan established the “Partnership for the Implementation of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change”, with the participation of more than 100 countries (including ASEAN countries). Japan really hopes that Vietnam will participate in this “Partnership for the Implementation of Article 6”.
Expressing his gratitude to the Japanese Ministry of Environment for inviting Vietnam to join the “Article 6 Implementation Partnership”, Minister Dang Quoc Khanh informed that Vietnam needs to develop rules, procedures, guidelines and specific regulations on how to implement Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. These regulations, along with documents on carbon credit management and trading, are among the important contents that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and other ministries and sectors must soon complete in the coming time.
Therefore, the Minister believes that participating in this Partnership will help Vietnam learn a lot of experience to perfect Vietnam's institutions and legal policies, identify support needs, build necessary processes and procedures, and create a foundation for more cooperation opportunities with countries participating in the Paris Agreement.
*On this occasion, Vietnamese Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Dang Quoc Khanh and Japanese Minister of Environment Nishimura Akihiro signed a Letter of Intent on cooperation in the field of marine waste management.
Activities to be included within the framework of cooperation are as follows:
1. Cooperate in implementing pilot/research projects on marine debris in Vietnam;
2. Organize training courses/workshops for Vietnamese members to enhance capacity on marine debris management including monitoring and treatment;
3. Sharing knowledge and experience between Japan and Vietnam to develop handbooks and/or manuals related to marine debris management;
4. Cooperate in multilateral forums on the issue of plastic waste including the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) of UNEA Resolution 5/14 on the theme "Ending plastic pollution: towards an internationally binding legal instrument";
5. Share collected and/or published marine debris monitoring data including microplastics including detailed data;
6. Other relevant areas of cooperation with the interest and agreement of each party./.
Source
![[Photo] National Assembly Chairman attends the seminar "Building and operating an international financial center and recommendations for Vietnam"](https://vphoto.vietnam.vn/thumb/1200x675/vietnam/resource/IMAGE/2025/7/28/76393436936e457db31ec84433289f72)
Comment (0)