Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesian Environment Minister Jumhur Hidayat said Indonesia and Vietnam shared many common interests and opportunities for cooperation in urban planning, strengthening climate resilience, and developing a circular economy.
Speaking to the Vietnam News Agency on November 4, the minister also highlighted potential for cooperation between the two countries in waste management, clean transport, electric vehicles and smart urban technologies, including digital governance and environmental monitoring.
Meanwhile, Eddy Soeparno, Deputy Speaker of Indonesia’s People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR), stressed the need for a comprehensive legal framework to address the climate crisis, covering emissions reduction, adaptation, loss and damage, as well as the protection of climate activists.
Soeparno said Vietnam had considerable experience in solar power development that Indonesia could draw on as it implements its 100-GW solar power programme. He stressed that cooperation should also cover the coordinated development of transmission infrastructure and power grids to ensure their capacity to accommodate renewable energy, alongside the sharing of experience and financial resources suited to each country’s conditions.
Such efforts would enable Indonesia and Vietnam to strengthen cooperation in energy transition and sustainable development.
At the November 4 press conference, Hidayat said Indonesia views the 31st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP31) as an opportunity to accelerate progress towards its climate targets for 2030, amid growing urgency to keep global temperature rise within the 1.5 degrees Celsius limit.
He said the country had identified eight priorities, including accelerating the implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs); advancing climate finance; finalising indicators for the Global Goal on Adaptation; promoting the Just Transition Mechanism; ensuring the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR-RC); connecting governments, businesses and communities in climate action; implementing projects under the Climate Implementation Bridge initiative, of which Indonesia is one of five pilot countries; and maintaining the role of multilateralism in addressing climate change.
The minister said Indonesia was working to improve waste management, develop energy solutions and apply smart urban technologies to build greener, more resilient and resource-efficient cities./.
