A conference was held in Hanoi on April 23 by the Ministry ofPlanning and Investment, to collect opinions on evaluating investmentactivities and public spending on climate change.
Vietnam has joined a number of initiatives in accordance with theConvention of the United Nations (UN) and Kyoto Protocol on climatechange. Many national policies have been revised to include climatechange issues in environmental management work, biodiversitypreservation and other interdisciplinary goals such as povertyreduction.
By now the country has received 1.2billion USD in international aid for climate change adaptation. Expertssay investment in this area is expected to increase, but policies andcoordination capacity are lacking, creating a bottleneck in theimplementation process.
According to Pham Hoang Mai,head of the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Department ofScience, Education, Natural Resources and Environment, domesticinvestment in climate change response is still restricted.
However, experience in clean development and private investors’response to energy efficiency and regenerative power indicate that anincrease in investment is possible, Mai added.
Thomas Beloe, a UNDP representative, suggested that Vietnam shouldtake a more proactive approach to climate change, particularly topromote green/low carbon development. He said the green developmentstrategy, which Vietnam is working to build, will create a goodfoundation to put in place a strong policy framework as to climatechange.
A tough challenge for developing countries,including Vietnam, is how to mobilise sufficient financial sourcesto deal with climate change, said Murray, a World Bank representative.Therefore, the country should classify climate change-related costs inorder to improve the quality of spending on climate change response.-VNA