Viet Nam

Last updated: September 2024

The country is one of the priority countries with which the International Climate Initiative (IKI) maintains a particularly close cooperation.

Viet Nam is highly vulnerable to climate change due to its long coastline and deltas. The impacts of climate change and a CO₂-intensive economy are endangering Viet Nam's ambitious stability, growth and prosperity plans. The greatest risks arising from climate change are the increasing occurrence of extreme events and seasonal fluctuations, resulting in floods and regional droughts. Coastal areas are affected by the rise in the sea level, floods and the inflow of sea water, which have a negative impact on biodiversity and agriculture, in particular on rice farming in delta areas.

Viet Nam currently depends on fossil fuels to generate its electricity. In 2020, the electricity mix consisted of 46 percent coal, 31 percent hydropower, 10 percent natural gas/oil, 11 percent solar, one percent wind and one percent biomass/import. A high level of pressure to expand the capacity of electricity generation and other energy infrastructure has developed as a result of rapid economic growth.

At the COP26, which took place in Glasgow in November 2021, the Viet Namese government surprisingly announced a new net zero emissions target for 2050, for which the existing central policies and plans are currently under revision. These include the national climate strategy and the national energy plan entitled “Power Development Plan 8”, which was passed in May 2023. According to this, Viet Nam seeks to decarbonise its energy mix by 2050 and gradually expand renewable energies. Substantial investments are necessary for this purpose due to the increasing demand for electricity, particularly for industrial applications.
Just Energy Transition Partnership
Another milestone in Viet Nam's climate policy is the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) with the International Partner Group, which was signed in December 2022. The donor countries commit here to providing funds in the amount of 15 billion US dollars with priority being placed on the expansion of renewable energy. Financing is to be borne equally by public and private actors.

The share of renewable energies (wind, solar and hydro energy) is to be increased from the originally planned 36 percent to 47 percent. CO₂ emissions are to be reduced from 240 to 170 Mt. Coal-converted electricity is to be reduced from 41 to 30 GW.

Apart from the phase-out of fossil fuels, JETP also focuses on cooperation with the private sector and socially just transformation.
NDC update
The second update of Viet Nam's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) was submitted at the COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh in November 2022. Increased conditional (43.5 percent) and unconditional (15.8 percent) mitigation targets for 2030 are formulated there. Furthermore, the previously announced long-term target was included in the NDC update - as well as the planned reduction of methane emissions by 30 percent compared to 2020 by 2030. However, the new mitigation targets do not envisage an emission peak before 2030.

Work is currently ongoing on the next update of the NDCs for the 2025 UN Climate Change Conference (COP 30). The IKI interface project in the country - together with other IKI projects - is supporting the work on the NDC update regarding topics in the area of mitigation.
Global Biodiversity Framework
Currently, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) is coordinating the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), which was adopted in Montreal in December 2022. The existing “National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan” (NBSAP) is to be prioritised in compliance with the GBF.

A revision of the NBSAP is not currently planned, but the National Biodiversity Act of 2008 is to be updated. The IKI interface project will also advise MONRE in this respect.
The IKI promotes a wide range of projects in various sectors to support Viet Nam’s efforts in the transformation process towards climate-compatible and resilient development. In accordance with the needs, the energy transition is emerging as a priority of the IKI Viet Nam portfolio. The major part of the funds is used for climate change mitigation, including regional energy consumption, urban climate action and green banking projects.

With regard to adaptation, a coastal protection project exists, among others, based on the planting of mangroves, as well as a new project from the Country Call 2020, which focuses on nature-based solutions in the agricultural sector. The IKI portfolio is supplemented by regional and global projects on innovative insurance solutions and climate services.

Interface project

Most priority countries of the IKI also engage in so-called IKI interface projects, which have permanent project offices in the capital city of the respective country. Alongside their own, country-specific project commission, these interface projects are also tasked with maintaining close contact to environment and climate ministries as well as networking with other relevant ministries in the field of climate and biodiversity policy. Beyond this, the interface projects also work to network all of the IKI projects in the country and region together so as to promote synergies.

The interface function is currently represented by the project Support to Vietnam for the Implementation of the Paris Agreement (SIPA II)

Project priorities

The support of the Viet Namese government for the implementation of the Paris Agreement encompasses five core areas:

Consultation on the further development and implementation of Viet Nam's climate and biodiversity contribution;
Support in the establishment of an institutional framework for the implementation of the Paris Agreement, the Kunming-Montreal Agreement and the JETP;
Consultation and capacity building for the decarbonisation of the transport sector in Viet Nam with a focus on freight transport;
Specific measures are being implemented in two provinces, which possess high scalability potential (concept of nature-based solutions for adaptation (NbSA));
Function as an IKI interface: Promotion of dialogue on climate and biodiversity between the IKI projects in the country as well as between other actors (networking opportunities and knowledge management).

Project contact

iki.vietnam(at)giz.de

Newsletter

Support to Viet Nam for the Implementation of the Paris Agreement II

Insights into the project work

All projects in the country

In a nutshell

Region: Asia

Population: 98.9 million (World Bank, 2023)

CO₂eq emissions (incl. LUCF): 457.1 million t (ClimateWatch, 2021)

CO₂eq emissions per capita (incl. LUCF): 4.7 t (ClimateWatch, 2021)

Total energy supply (IRENA, 2021):

22 % RE (46 % Bioenergy - 40 % Hydro/marine - 3 % Wind - 11 % Solar)
24 % Oil
7 % Gas
47 % Coal + others

IKI projects in the country (last updated in June 2024):

bilateral: 12 ongoing, 14 completed
regional: 7 ongoing, 13 completed
global: 18 longoing, 32 completed

ClimateWatch

NDC partnership: country page

Ministry of Environment (MONRE)
Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI)
Ministry of Agriculture (MARD)
Ministry of Construction (MOC)
Ministry of Finance (MOF)
Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT)
Ministry of Transport (MOT)

The IKI Strategy

The IKI wants to maximise its impact on climate action and biodiversity conservation. To this end, it concentrates its funding activities on prioritised fields of action within the four funding areas. Another key element is the close cooperation with selected partner countries, especially with the IKI’s priority countries.

Click here for the IKI Strategy