On the afternoon of May 30, 2023, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha chaired the first plenary meeting of the National Steering Committee on Green Growth.
Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha stated: The goals and commitments on green growth are clear, but it is necessary to find a way to do it in accordance with Vietnam's socio-economic conditions. Without specific solutions, the green growth goals will only remain on paper.
The total additional investment capital demand for green sectors in Vietnam in the period 2021-2050 is about 144 billion USD.
At the meeting, according to the assessment from the International Renewable Energy Agency, Vietnam is facing great opportunities to promote green growth thanks to advantages from large carbon storage capacity from forest resources and great potential from renewable energy development.
Vietnam is one of the fastest growing countries in the digital economy in the region, with a digital economic market size of about 23 billion USD in 2022 and expected to reach 50 billion USD in 2025.
Mobilizing resources for green economic development has been strongly promoted through various channels, including efforts to call for investment in climate actions, attracting green finance from the COP26 Conference, notably attracting resources for a just energy transition (JETP) following the Prime Minister's strong commitment to achieving zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. In addition, more than 80% of Vietnamese consumers are willing to pay more for green products.
Representatives of Boston Consulting Group also presented the Green Growth Acceleration Strategy Report for Vietnam at the meeting.
A representative of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) said that with the roadmap to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions to zero that Vietnam has set out while still promoting socio-economic growth, it is necessary to prioritize 4 main areas: Renewable energy, clean hydrogen, clean transportation and transport, green industrial solutions. BCG estimates that the total additional investment capital demand in green sectors in Vietnam in the period of 2021-2050 is about 144 billion USD, of which electricity production and industry account for the highest proportion.
BCG Group recommends integrating green growth goals and directions into the plans of ministries, branches and localities, including piloting 2-3 key provinces; issuing a national green standards and incentives system; launching a number of pilot projects in priority areas; establishing a national green finance strategy...
Changing thinking and ways of doing economic development coupled with environmental protection
Concluding the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha emphasized the need to update data, targets, and goals on green growth since COP26, such as the Just Energy Transition Agreement (JETP), approaches to implementing the commitment to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions to zero, etc.
The Steering Committee needs to summarize the experiences of countries around the world in implementing green growth strategies, thereby drawing lessons and making recommendations to realize the goals set for Vietnam.
"We need to develop and update plans and roadmaps for implementing the green growth strategy as a 'thread', a consistent principle, linking, coordinating, and guiding sectoral and local strategies. From there, we need to change our thinking and approach to economic development in conjunction with environmental protection, sustainable exploitation and use of natural resources, ecosystem restoration, ensuring fairness and social security," the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized and requested that from now until 2025, the Steering Committee needs to have a coordination tool, which is an action plan with the highest priority areas and tasks.
The Deputy Prime Minister stated: Green growth governance must be implemented through the State's macro-regulatory role, and at the same time be concretized through the awareness and actions of each citizen and community, with the participation of unions, social organizations, and the business community...
Regarding some priority areas to promote green growth in the coming time, the Deputy Prime Minister said that it is necessary to identify a number of interdisciplinary pilot projects such as law, science and technology, education and training, digital transformation to solve technological "problems", as a basis for key areas of renewable energy, green transformation, some areas with large greenhouse gas emissions such as agriculture, transportation, fossil energy... in the future.
Ministries and sectors urgently develop a set of tools, criteria, and legal standards to classify, evaluate the effectiveness, encourage, and monitor green growth activities in terms of economy, environment, society, etc., forming awareness, culture, and social ethics towards green growth.
Regarding resources and financial mechanisms, the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized the need to ensure sufficient additional investment capital (from the State, financial institutions, and the private sector) for technology, human resources, and overcoming social impacts on workers when transforming from a traditional growth model to green growth.
The Deputy Prime Minister also suggested "selecting a number of pilot projects that can create breakthroughs, perfect technology, legal, education, training, and demonstrate economic efficiency, before expanding."
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