Project supporting implementation of Paris Agreement sped up

Illustrative image (Source: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) - The Steering Committee of the project “Support to Vietnam for the Implementation of the Paris Agreement” (VN-SIPA) held its second meeting in Hanoi on April 14 with the participation of representatives from certain ministries, sectors, and localities.

Addressing the meeting, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Le Cong Thanh highlighted the project’s support in implementing Vietnam’s nationally determined contributions (NDC) and the Paris Agreement on climate change.

In order to speed up the project, he asked participants to make proposals and discuss the 2021 plan, especially activities relating to State management over climate change and the enhancing of Vietnam’s role and responsibility as a signatory to the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Meanwhile, Weert Borner, Deputy Ambassador of Germany in Vietnam, said that Vietnam was one of the first countries to build an action plan to realise the Paris Agreement and one of the first to submit and update its NDC.

He held that the VN-SIPA supports Vietnam in creating the necessary suitable conditions for the deal, to mitigate the impact of climate change and bring about environmental and socio-economic benefits for the country.

Pham Van Tan, Vice Director of the Climate Change Administration at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, said that as COVID-19 is still a major issue, ministries and localities should prepare alternative measures and speed up the implementation of approved plans.

Kia Fariborz, Chief Advisor of the VN-SIPA project, said that last year, Vietnam completed and updated its NDC report in September, which was recognised and lauded by the international community as it was one of the first 20 countries to do so.

The four-year VN-SIPA project was approved by the Prime Minister on April 3, 2019 and has a total cost of 10.3 million EUR (12.31 million USD), funded by non-refundable ODA from Germany. It aims to strengthen the legal framework and national capacity in implementing the Paris Agreement, with the core being conducting Vietnam’s NDC.

So far, it has assisted the building of a climate change response programme in the revised Law on Environmental Protection 2020 as well as climate change management documents and sectoral plans on climate change response. It has defined solutions in the central provinces of Quang Binh and Ha Tinh based on the ecosystem./.

VNA