Canada is willing to assist Vietnam's carbon pricing

On the morning of March 14, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien met with Canadian Climate Change Ambassador Catherine Steward to discuss current and potential bilateral cooperation in areas such as climate change, biodiversity, carbon market development, and climate-smart agriculture.

In recent years, Vietnam and Canada have placed a high priority on their partnership. The Canadian government has provided considerable assistance for agricultural and rural development via food safety programs and smart coastal community adaptation to climate change.

During the meeting, Canadian Climate Change Ambassador Catherine Steward highlighted Canada's wish to deepen the positive connection between the two countries in order to continue executing the Indo-Pacific Strategy in Vietnam.

"My mission as Climate Change Ambassador is to raise awareness about Canada's climate change challenges and what the country is doing to address climate change both locally and worldwide. We are acutely aware of the effects of climate change on life, people, the environment, and the economy in general. We need to take action to combat climate change, therefore we applaud Vietnam's strong commitment to net zero and emission reductions at COP26," Steward said.

Steward shared her agricultural expertise, noting that Canada works on decreasing emissions and improving output while also assuring climate change adaptation. The government also has a sustainable agricultural production policy, with a budget of up to 1.5 billion CAD for execution.

In addition to the aforementioned cooperation initiatives, Canada hopes to continue working with Vietnam on additional climate change infrastructure projects such as flood management and forest fire protection.

Another area of interest for Canada is balanced energy transition partners, with Vietnam having action plans within this program framework. Steward feels that the two sides may collaborate more closely in this area.

Furthermore, Canada invites Vietnam to engage in its effort on global carbon pricing difficulties. According to Steward, carbon price has a substantial influence on decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, and Canada places a high importance on collaboration with Vietnam based on partnering and exchanging carbon pricing experiences.

"In the agriculture sector specifically, carbon pricing and carbon market development play an important role in emission reduction, and Canadian experts are ready to work with Vietnam on this issue," the Canadian ambassador to the United Nations said.

In reaction to Canada's comments, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien said that agriculture is an important part of Vietnam's economy. However, climate change has the greatest influence on agricultural productivity, which is also a key source of climate change.

To achieve sustainable development objectives in agriculture, the dominating tendencies are green growth, circular economy, and low-carbon economic development. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has produced and approved several policies and action plans addressing these challenges.

The Deputy Minister also mentioned that the agricultural sector is completing documents for the "Smart Coastal Community Adaptation to Climate Change" initiative. Enhancing the ability for sustainable economic growth and livelihoods in coastal regions would help to mitigate the effects of climate change, stabilize the lives of coastal communities, and contribute to Vietnam's IUU strategy.

As a result, the Deputy Minister proposed that Canada assist the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in implementing the emission reduction plan, including the project to develop one million hectares of high-quality, low-emission rice associated with green growth in the Mekong Delta region.

Vietnam and Canada are both witnessing fast warming of their climates. According to expert assessments, each hectare of forest can absorb around 100 tons of CO2 every year. With the goal of keeping Vietnam's forest coverage rate at 42% and slowing climate change, the Ministry requested that Canada promote reforestation and forest development.

Furthermore, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien proposed that Canada share its experiences and technological strengths in serving the circular economy, low-carbon aquaculture, processing, and value chain development of aquatic products; flood control and prevention technologies; forest fire management; and biodiversity conservation solutions.

The proposal proposes that Canada raise funds via the Canadian Development Finance Organization (FinDev Canada) to encourage collaboration and investment in animal waste management and treatment technologies in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.