Welcoming Ambassador Trenede Dobson and the New Zealand Embassy delegation to Vietnam, Deputy Minister Le Cong Thanh highly appreciated the contributions of Ms. Trenede Dobson during her term in Vietnam as well as the cooperative activities between New Zealand Embassy with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in the field of combating climate change.
As for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, in the spirit of strongly implementing commitments at the 26th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26), the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has chaired and coordinated with Ministries and branches develop and submit for approval the National Strategy on Climate Change for the period up to 2050; Plan to reduce methane emissions and many other important documents to realize Vietnam's commitments.
Currently, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is assigned by the Government to build a legal framework to certify carbon credit management, moving towards building a carbon market in Vietnam. In the process of building this legal framework, Deputy Minister Le Cong Thanh hopes to receive support, exchange and learning from partners, including New Zealand.
Following Deputy Minister Le Cong Thanh, Ambassador Trenede Dobson said that New Zealand was very impressed with Vietnam's commitments at COP26. Accordingly, New Zealand has accompanied and cooperated with Vietnam's Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in implementing these goals and wishes to continue to tighten this cooperative relationship in the future.
At the meeting, Ambassador Trenede Dobson informed about a number of new cooperation and investment programs of New Zealand, such as the International Climate Finance Strategy. This strategy aims to implement the New Zealand Government's priorities to contribute to the global joint effort to respond to climate change and support multilateral climate change channels.
Accordingly, the New Zealand Parliament approved a financial commitment of 1,3 billion NZD for the period 2022-2025; Of which 800 million is new funding and 500 million is existing funding. Of this funding, at least 50% will go directly to Pacific region countries to strengthen climate resilience and at least 50% will be used to support developing countries adapt to the impacts of climate change.
At the same time, Ambassador Trenede Dobson also mentioned three New Zealand sponsorship projects with Vietnam, including: Project to restore the great delta in Asia with financial resources of 3 million NZD; project to support increasing livelihoods and jobs for female workers in the energy sector, jointly implemented by UN Women and the Vietnam Women's Union in phase 18,6; and the energy efficiency project, jointly funded by New Zealand and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
“We will implement these projects through partners. The New Zealand Embassy in Vietnam will make every effort to promote partners to work closely with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and other ministries and branches of Vietnam," Ambassador Trenede Dobson said.
Along with that, other development cooperation projects and programs that New Zealand implements will also integrate climate change issues and climate change challenges. Ambassador Trenede Dobson hopes that in the coming time, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment will send more officials to participate in these programs.
Appreciating the sharing from the New Zealand Ambassador, Deputy Minister Le Cong Thanh expects that, with the cooperation and help of New Zealand, the projects will support sustainable development of the Mekong Delta and increase adaptability. respond to climate change. Currently, the Vietnamese Government has started meaningful, long-term programs, such as developing 1 million hectares of high-quality, low-emission rice. Such development projects need support from all parties, including New Zealand, to jointly research and find directions for developing other agricultural industries in the Mekong Delta.
In addition, the Vietnamese Government also expressed interest in the issue of energy transition. Specifically, the Government has directed the implementation of several pilot projects to develop renewable energy in Vietnam. This is a big challenge for ministries and branches in Vietnam because this problem requires not only public investment but also from many different capital sources. Meanwhile, Vietnam's legal framework still has limitations on regulations on the use of ODA capital. Therefore, Deputy Minister Le Cong Thanh said that Vietnam is willing to continue to listen and adjust the mechanism to create conditions for international cooperation projects to be more open and timely.
At the end of the meeting, the New Zealand Ambassador believed that Vietnam has the ability to become a pioneer country in environmental fields such as recycling and reusing waste. She assessed that Vietnam is a center of innovation, in which many young businesses and startups in Vietnam have launched many innovative and environmentally friendly initiatives. The Ambassador hopes that in the future, the two countries will continue to push cooperation in climate change to new heights and support each other to overcome challenges and achieve the common goal of carbon neutrality. .
