Vietnam is one of the most severely affected countries in terms of climate change and rising sea levels. According to experts, average water levels in the Mekong Delta are predicted to rise two metres by 2050. This could directly affect 20 million famers. Therefore, the government are making efforts to protect the environment now.
Nguyen Khac Hieu, Deputy Director, Department of Meteorology, Hydrology & Climate Change said: "The world is currently striving for a mutual agreement on climate change which will be established at the end of this year in Paris. Vietnam is making efforts to establish a report on nationally-determined contributions. The goal of Vietnam is to make national contributions together with international contributions. We will volunteer to execute activities in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and climate change adaption.
The commitment of countries in the INDC report will decide the success of the 21st yearly session of the Conference of the Parties at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change which will take place in November. The submission must be sent to the secretariat of the conference before October this year.
Eric Normand Thibeault, Representative, Francophone International said: "This regional dialogue aims to share experiences for drafting Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Vanuatu’s INDC and between experts of the Vietnam’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. This is a great chance for us to share challenges on drafting a national contribution document. We are united on discussing how the countries establish tools for a national strategy and national action programme after the United Nations conference".
Bernard Dubois, Deputy Director, Francophone Institute for Sustainable Development said: "The contributions are established based on the development programme available in each country. Therefore, in various ideas and projects, each country can make suitable contributions. This is extremely important. The contributions are not exactly the same but they depend on the situation in each country"
By June 2015, 16 countries had submitted their INDCs to the COP 21 secretariat. During the time the Kyoto Protocol took effect from 2008 to 2012, Vietnam failed to reduce greenhouse gas emission as much as developed countries. However, Vietnam is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from 12.5% to 25%, equivalent to 772 million tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2030.
