Special edition  » The climate for change

On the eve of the 15th Conference of Parties (COP15), vice chairman of Vietnam’s UNFCCC Steering Committee and deputy director general of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment’s Meteorology Hydrology and Climate Change Agency Nguyen Khac Hieu talks to VIR about the country’s climate negotiations.

What has been prepared for the upcoming COP15 in Copenhagen, Denmark during December, 2009?

COP15 will be one of the global community’s last stages to finalise climate negotiations for the post-2012 period, commonly known as the Bali roadmap. However, the international community’s expectations of many developed countries have yet to be met.

At present, only Norway has set its targeted greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction level of 40 per cent by 2020. In fact, the majority of developed countries have set much lower targets. For example, the European Union has set a target of 20 per cent.

Meanwhile, in order to keep the GHG concentrations in the atmosphere at a level of 450 parts per million (ppm) and keep the increase in the earth’s temperature below two degrees celsius by the end of this century, the international community, particularly developed countries, must take the lead in reducing GHG emissions.

However, I think this problem will be difficult to solve at COP15, in which a common agreement from the international community, particularly developed countries, needs to be reached. Accordingly, developed countries will be required to reduce GHG emissions by a minimum of 40 per cent by 2020.

If no common agreement is reached by developed countries during COP15, what will developing countries like Vietnam do to mitigate and respond to climate change?

In general, developing countries need to build their own specific programmes on assessing climate change impacts based on their climate change scenarios to take the initiative in coping with this challenge.

So does Vietnam. We cannot sit waiting for the aftermath of climate change. The international community has warned that if Vietnam fails to take urgent preventive action right now, it will pay a very expensive price in the future. Vietnam has been recognised as a country that has proactively responded to climate change.

The government has approved the National Target Programme on Responding to Climate Change (NTP) for 2009-2015, including climate change mitigation and responses. Under the programme, all ministries, government agencies and local authorities nationwide are required to design their own action plans based on the framework set by the NTP and also based on Vietnam’s climate change scenarios announced by the government during August, 2009.

How significant will it be for Vietnam to attend COP15?

Vietnam’s participation in COP15 will be of great importance. COP15 will be where Vietnam and other developing countries struggle for the world’s common target of keeping GHG concentrations below 450ppm, the earth’s temperature rises below two degrees celsius and sea levels not rising too much.

For countries home to long and low coastlines like Vietnam, it will be very important for them to see developed countries make stronger GHG emission reduction commitments, because the commitments will mean that their coastal and agricultural production regions will be protected from saline intrusion. For Vietnam, its many coastal regions will be protected, especially the Mekong River Delta because it is home to most of the country’s rice exporters.

What can developing countries like Vietnam expect from COP15?

We hope the international community will share the same voice in protecting the globe’s climate. We expect that stronger commitments will be made by developed countries, with GHG emission reduction levels to meet the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change’s fourth report, in which global GHG concentrations need to be kept at 450ppm and the earth’s temperature must not increase by more than two degrees celsius by the end of this century.

The ultimate objective of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and any related legal instruments that the Conference of Parties may adopt, is to achieve in accordance with the relevant provisions of the convention, stabilisation of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. It is also hoped that during COP15 at least a preliminary agreement, or a framework, will be reached. It may pave the way for the next negotiations to reach stronger GHG emission reduction commitments by developed countries after 2012, when specific actions can be taken.

As a developing country at risk from climate change impacts, what will Vietnam expect

developed countries to do to help?

Vietnam is seen as one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change. Being a developing country, it will continue to require developed nations to more actively provide financial and technological support and capacity building programmes for countries vulnerable to climate change.

Thus at COP15, we will continue mobilise support from developed countries. At the same time, we will also mobilise countries facing the same situation to share the same voice to be able to access financial support for climate change response programmes.

How much support has Vietnam received so far?

Regarding climate change, there have been 10 clean development mechanism projects approved in Vietnam. The NTP has also been provided with a $40 million financial assistance package by the Danish government to undertake a trial stage in Quang Nam and Ben Tre provinces. At present, Japan is also supporting Vietnam with a climate change mitigation and response project, which is under negotiation.