On the morning of January 8, 2024, Member of the Party Central Committee, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Dang Quoc Khanh had a meeting and worked with the delegation of the Canadian Ministry of International Development led by Minister Ahmed Dirir Hussen.
Attending the meeting with Minister Dang Quoc Khanh were Mr. Le Ngoc Tuan, Director General of the Department of International Cooperation; Mr. Tang The Cuong, Director General of the Department of Climate Change; Mr. Hoang Van Thuc, Director General of the Department of Environmental Pollution Control; Mr. Nguyen Hung Thinh, Director General of the Department of Environment; Mr. Pham Tan Tuyen, Chief of the Ministry Office; Mr. Nguyen Tien Duy, Secretary to the Minister.
Welcoming Minister Ahmed Dirir Hussen and the delegation to work with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in the first days of 2024, Minister Dang Quoc Khanh informed the delegation as well as Minister Ahmed Dirir Hussen that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has issued a document reporting to the Prime Minister to consider and approve the participating of Viet Nam to the "Global Carbon Pricing Challenge" (GCPC) Initiative. This is the content discussed by Minister Dang Quoc Khanh at COP28 with Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) Steven Guilbeault.
Meeting paticipants
Minister Dang Quoc Khanh said that this initiative is important in promoting the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions globally. Therefore, participating in the initiative will open up opportunities to access and develop the domestic carbon market, take advantage of financial and technical support sources, and share experiences to improve capacity; Thereby, contributing to achieving the country's development goals; At the same time, support Viet Nam in implementing international commitments on climate change.
Pleased with the information from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Minister Ahmed Dirir Hussen said that adaptation to climate change as well as energy transition are goals that countries around the world including Viet Nam and Canada are interested in together. With its potential and experience, Canada is ready to cooperate and support Viet Nam. However, to implement it, the participation of many countries, organizations, and business sectors, both private and state-owned, is needed. Therefore, Minister Ahmed Dirir Hussen hopes that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment will advise the government to create conditions for all parties to participate and contribute to the common cause of creation.
Also during the meeting, Minister Ahmed Dirir Hussen said that the Canadian Government highly appreciates Viet Nam's commitments and actions, so Canada always has projects and mechanisms to support financial resources, policy to join Viet Nam in projects where both have common goals and Canada has strengths such as improving policy mechanisms on public-private cooperation, strengthening the capacity of coastal communities resisting and adapting to climate change, building a carbon market test in forestry, fighting ocean plastic pollution,etc.
The two Ministers took souvenir photos
Talking to Minister Ahmed Dirir Hussen, Minister Dang Quoc Khanh said that although Viet Nam currently has great potential for renewable energy, it is also one of six countries severely affected by climate change, so to achieve the goals of adaptation to change, energy conversion, and combating plastic pollution... it is necessary to have programs and policies of development partners to accompany us. Minister Dang Quoc Khanh hopes that the Minister and the Canadian Government will also pay attention to promoting technology transfer and mobilizing financial investment from Canada to strengthen cooperation on solving plastic pollution, adapting responding to climate change, focusing on developing Viet Nam's renewable energy market but associated with ensuring energy security, energy saving and have mechanisms for all levels to participate in implementation.
The two Ministers believe that through the meeting, they will promote cooperative activities between the Ministries in particular and the two countries in general on common goals of climate change and energy transition.