Vietnam gets 41.2 million USD in emission reduction payments

Vietnam has received 41.2 million USD, equivalent to 80% of the total funding, from the World Bank for 10.3 million tonnes of CO2 as a result of its efforts to reduce carbon emissions in deforestation and forest degradation until 2025.(Photo: kinhtenongthon.vn)

Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam has received 41.2 million USD, equivalent to 80% of the total funding, from the World Bank for 10.3 million tonnes of CO2 as a result of its efforts to reduce carbonemissions in deforestation and forest degradation until 2025, according toDirector of the Forestry Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment (MARD) Tran Quang Bao.

At a workshop held in Hanoi on September 27, Bao said under the Emission ReductionsPayment Agreement (ERPA) signed between Vietnam and the World Bank’s ForestCarbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) in October 2020, Vietnam could receive up to51.5 million USD if the country is able to reduce 10.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxideemissions from six north central provinces.

Additionally, at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26), the MARD alsoinked a Letter of Intent with the Organisation for Forest Financing (Emergent),a trustee of the Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest Finance (LEAF) Coalition. This enables Vietnam to transfer to LEAF/Emergent 5.15 million tonnes of carbondioxide emissions reduction from forests in the south central andCentral Highlands regions between 2022 and 2026 for 51.5 million USD.

The two regions are home to some 4.29 million hectares of forest, accountingfor 29% of the country’s total forest areas.

At the workshop, the LEAF initiative was popularised among local authorities,ethnic minority groups, and socio-political organisations.

Deputy Director of Binh Thuan province’s Department of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment Le Thanh Son said the ERPA creates a premise for Binh Thuan to carry out carboncredit programmes, which helps the province gain money for forest protectionactivities, and improvement of local livelihoods.

At the workshop held in Hanoi on September 27 (Photo: kinhtenongthon.vn)

Meanwhile, Head of the Forest Protection Sub-department of Lam Dong province VuDinh Cuong pointed out several challenges when carrying out the programme inVietnam, including barriers from the REDD mechanism.

Vietnam has made strong commitments to the international community in the fightagainst climate change as it signed the Paris Agreement on climate change in2015, targets to cut emissions to net zero by 2050, and engages in variousinitiatives such as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and ForestDegradation (REDD ) and Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use.

Under its National Determined Contributions (NDC) report, Vietnam eyes toreduce 15.8% of emissions, equivalent to 146 million tonnes of carbon dioxide,and the figures are raised to 43.5% and 403 million tonnes with internationalsupport./.

VNA