Last week, as Hanoians were choking their way through pollution levels well above what is considered safe by just about any standard, the COP29 climate change conference was underway in Azerbaijan.
The negotiations, the focus of which was financing for the green energy transitions of developing nations by countries already developed, was reportedly fierce. This culminated on Saturday when a group of developing world delegates walked out of the negotiations in frustration.
Indeed, whereas Vietnam’s position on said walk-out has not been made clear, it had been supportive of the core objectives of the developing world delegates earlier in the week.
“Climate finance needs to reach US$1 trillion per year by 2030 for developing countries to respond to climate change and achieve a just economic, social and environmental transition,” Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Le Cong Thanh, who led Vietnam’s delegation to Azerbaijan, told conference attendees.
That said, omitted from Le’s speech was any mention of the US$15.5 billion Just Energy Partnership Agreement–or JETP–Vietnam signed onto shortly after COP27, which has Vietnam well out in front of most emerging economies in terms of climate financing… at least on paper.
That is to say, practically speaking, the implementation of Vietnam’s JETP agreement looks to have stalled.
Reportedly, this is the result of the financing on offer being made up of mostly loans whereas Vietnam, which tends to have an aversion to borrowing money on international markets, had hoped for it to be made up of mostly grants. Of course, this could theoretically be remedied with further negotiation, however, negotiations take time and a positive outcome is far from guaranteed.
That being the case, it might be time to start considering other options.
So, what might those other options look like?
Firstly, public awareness campaigns.
Vietnam is not known for rapid, big sweeping changes at a policy level. That’s not to say that Vietnamese people are incapable of rapid, big sweeping change at an individual level.
In the early days of the pandemic, the Vietnamese Ministry of Health commissioned a public awareness campaign the centrepiece of which was the short track Ghen Co Vy that was released with an accompanying dance routine and an animated video designed to raise awareness of COVID-19 prevention measures. The message was simple, the song was catchy, and participation cost nothing–all the makings of a viral success in Vietnam.
As such, it was difficult to go anywhere without hearing it playing in the background. Not only that, but it went global finding its way into the international press and was perhaps part of the reason Vietnam appeared to avoid the worst of the pandemic for quite a bit longer than many other parts of the world.
The point being that there is precedent for structured public awareness campaigns targeting individual behaviour change in Vietnam, and coupled with a population of 100 million people these individual behaviour changes can have a big impact.
For example, if each person refused one plastic bag each day for a year, working on an estimate of 200 grams of carbon emissions produced per plastic bag, it would reduce Vietnam’s carbon footprint by about 7.3 million tons. This is about the equivalent of taking a 1,000 megawatt coal power plant offline.
This is just one example of unnecessary waste too. Properly sealing old buildings, choosing to walk or cycle rather than drive short distances, or closing doors and windows when the air-conditioning is running, are all areas with plenty of room for improvement that could be addressed at the individual level.
Furthermore, reframing the debate, away from the broader environmental benefits, to more direct benefits for individuals and what matters to them most–their personal health, their family, and of course, their hip-pocket–could pay huge dividends.
On that note, Vietnamese really like to save money, and this presents a solid opportunity for climate financing at an individual level. Rooftop solar, home insulation, and battery storage framed in terms of the cost versus economic benefits could be made very attractive to Vietnamese consumers. They could also significantly reduce Vietnam’s carbon emissions.
For example, it’s estimated that rooftop solar on residential dwellings in Ho Chi Minh City alone has the potential to reach a 3,168 megawatt-peak. As of June last year, however, it had just 166 megawatt-peak installed.
Administered through an existing bank or credit union in Vietnam could significantly reduce the time it takes to set up and subsequently the time it takes to start moving.
Furthermore, the government has been working hard to drive private borrowing with a key pillar of its economic strategy, whether prudent or not, to reach credit growth for the year of 15 percent.
With this in mind, providing green financing directly to consumers could have benefits all round.
All of that is to say, there is more than one way to fill a banh mi and with the JETP process stalled, it might be time to start looking at other options if Vietnam’s green energy is to progress anytime in the near future.