Vietnam gets US$41.2 million in emission reduction payments
Vietnam has received US$41.2 million, 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, according to Director of the Forestry Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) Tran Quang Bao.
At a workshop held in Hanoi on September 27, Bao said under the Emission Reductions Payment Agreement (ERPA) signed between Vietnam and the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) in October 2020, Vietnam could receive up to US$51.5 million if the country is able to reduce 10.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions from six north central provinces.
Additionally, at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26), the MARD also inked 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 carbon dioxide emissions reduction from forests in the south central and Central Highlands regions between 2022 and 2026 for US$51.5 million.
The two regions are home to some 4.29 million hectares of forest, accounting for 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 Rural Development Le Thanh Son said the ERPA creates a premise for Binh Thuan to carry out carbon credit programmes, which helps the province gain money for forest protection activities, and improvement of local livelihoods.
Meanwhile, Head of the Forest Protection Sub-department of Lam Dong province Vu Dinh Cuong pointed out several challenges when carrying out the programme in Vietnam, including barriers from the REDD mechanism.
Vietnam has made strong commitments to the international community in the fight against climate change as it signed the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, targets to cut emissions to net zero by 2050, and engages in various initiatives such as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) and Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use.
Under its National Determined Contributions (NDC) report, Vietnam eyes to reduce 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 international support.
