Viet Nam would need to consider its power sector strategy to cope with climate change, experts said yesterday in a press conference and meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai in Ha Noi.
Yvo de Boer, former executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and Dennis Tirpark, former co-ordinator of international climate change negotiations for the UN, said that the future construction of coal power plants would increase Viet Nam’s greenhouse gas emission.
“Gas emission would increase while the world is talking about a global commitment to 50 per cent reduction,” said de Boer.
Coal remains a major source of energy in Viet Nam, accounting for more than 20 per cent of all sources of power.
The situation reflects a huge challenge to the country as Viet Nam simultaneously tries to grow the economy and play a role in the international process to address climate change.
“Whether it is in rich countries or developing nations, the only way forward is the one that allows both economic growth and efforts to address climate change,” de Boer said.
The expert advised the Vietnamese Government to use multiple sources of energy to meet the constantly increasing energy demands.
This coincides with the Government’s efforts to gradually shift its energy structure from traditional to alternative sources. Renewable energy is expected to account for 5 per cent of this structure in 2015 and 8 per cent in 2020.
Viet Nam already had policies in place in favour of the development of projects using renewable energy, said Deputy Prime Minister Hai.
The use of coal for thermo power plants was, however, a “must” for Viet Nam now, considering the current shortage of energy, he said. But, he added, the country had issued strict standards for these power plants in a bid to minimise their impacts on the environment.
De Boer said economic growth and tackling climate change could only happen if the price for causing pollution was pushed up.
“If we can allow fossil fuels to be burnt without knowing the cost to the environment, then it will be almost impossible for renewable sources of energy to survive, especially in countries like Viet Nam, where there is an abundant coal reserve,” said de Boer.
Thus, financing was a very critical part of the debate, he said.
De Boer suggested that apart from international public finance, such as the ODA, the private sector be mobilised.
Among the most critical questions was “Can Viet Nam partner with the private sector to implement clean energy production and a clean industry and products that are more likely to survive the market of tomorrow?”
He said he believed that Viet Nam would go further in shifting its economy towards a more sustainable and environment-friendly approach by implementing certain fiscal policies directed at coping with climate change.
The two climate change experts were invited by the UN office in Viet Nam to discuss strategic priorities in responding to environmental issues and concrete investment priorities with regards to climate finance with Vietnamese policymakers, said UN Resident Co-ordinator John Hendra.
They said Viet Nam was very prone to the impacts of climate change as it had the largest coastal community in the world and a long history of rice production.
