Canada to Fund $12M for Carbon Dioxide Emission Reduction in Vietnam by 2020

The government of Canada will finance CAD15 million ($11.6 million) to carry out initiatives and technologies on reducing greenhouse gas emissions among small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam by 2020. Canadian Minister Stephane Dion of Foreign Affairs said at a working session with Vietnamese Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha in Hanoi on Sept 5. The money would help Vietnam’s SMEs to intensify programs on climate change resilience, environment protection, energy saving, and water resource management, including the implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change. Mr. Ha expected that Canada continue participating in the Climate Change Response Support Program in Vietnam in 2016-2020, supporting Vietnam in implementing the Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) and the Paris agreement with priority given to gas emission reduction and waste management. Canada will provide assistance for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in building human resource capacity and developing a legal framework on natural resources management, climate change, and green economic development. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Canadian Ministry of Environment and Climate Change will sign a memorandum of understanding to realize their cooperation intensions, state media reported Tuesday. Statistics by the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development showed that Vietnam losses average $1 billion to natural disasters per year, causing annual fatalities to between 250 and 500 deaths and missing. (Thoi Bao Kinh Te Viet Nam – Vietnam Economic Times Sept 6 p3, Vietnamplus.vn Sept 5)