Report on youth action for climate change in Vietnam debuts

The event was co-organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Vietnam, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) and the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union.

On the occasion, a dialogue with President for the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) Alok Sharma was also held.

The activity was within the framework of the Youth4Climate Initiative launched by the UNDP in Vietnam last year in order to raise youths’ capacity and awareness of implementing the 2015 nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and updating the 2020 NDCs of the Vietnamese Government in line with the Paris Agreement for Climate Change.

With feedback from youths nationwide, the 56-page Special Report is part of the UNDP’s “Climate Promise” with funding from the governments of Germany, Sweden, Spain and Italy, and the European Union and other sponsors.

It comprises six topics, including bottlenecks and common measures, greenhouse emission reduction, climate change adaptation, nature-based solutions, climate change policy and youth action roadmap. In each topic, authors also offered specific recommendations to authorities during the 2021-2025 period.

Speaking at the event, UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam Caitlin Wiesen Antin hailed the report with the participation of thousands of Vietnamese youths as an important milestone, reflecting their active contributions to climate change response efforts at the national and global levels.

Deputy Director of the MoNRE’s Department of Climate Change Pham Van Tan said Vietnam signed the Paris Agreement in 2015, ratified and then issued a plan to implement it in 2016 with 68 groups of tasks. It also sent NDCs to the UN and added them into law.

COP26 President Alok Sharma called on leaders to listen to youths’ voice and urged countries, including Vietnam, to join hands to reduce greenhouse emissions and cope with climate change.