Viet Nam seeks financial support for its
'black to green' transition, but international partners say what's needed is
better policy. International development partners and donors have called on Viet
Nam to commit to bigger greenhouse gas emission reductions, warning that
fueling growth with coal will hurt the country with high environmental costs
later. “No doubt adaptation is necessary but the less we invest in mitigation
today, the more it will cost in adaptation in the future,” said Cecile Leroy,
who attended a high level meeting in Ha Noi on October 25th as a representative
of the European Union. Renewable energy and economic growth can go hand in
hand, she said, pointing out that emissions in Europe have been reduced by 20
percent since 1990.
Under a high emission scenario, nearly 40
percent of the Mekong Delta could be wiped out by the end of the century,
according to projections by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. The
risk is lower in a scenario of moderate climate change, which is only possible
if the world successfully limits global temperature rises to 1.5-2 degrees
Celsius above pre-industrial levels, as agreed in the Paris Agreement last
December. Achieving the target means the world must reduce carbon emissions by
40-70 percent by 2050 compared to 2010. But according to the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change, a scientific body of the United Nations which advises
governments, even if the world manages to keep this promise, median crop yields
could drop by as much as 2 percent every decade, and fishery resources around
the world could be displaced, affecting catches in Viet Nam. The country itself
is currently committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 8 percent by
2030 compared to 2010. While its carbon emissions per capita are relatively
low, 1.7 metric tons in 2013 versus an average of 3.5 metric tons in low and
middle-income countries, there's an alarming trend of increased emissions
compared to other countries in Southeast Asia. These neighbors have also
committed to much bigger cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. Outdated and energy
intensive technology in power generation, industrial production and transport
are to blame for Viet Nam’s relatively high carbon intensity, said Pham Van
Tan, deputy director general of the Department of Meteorology, Hydrology and
Climate Change. Carbon intensity is the amount of carbon emissions released per
unit of gross domestic product. The energy sector is by far the biggest emitter
in Viet Nam, according to the environment ministry's 2015 technical report. Fuel
combustion -- coal and gas fired -- accounted for 88 percent of CO2 emissions
in this sector in 2010, at 124.3 metric tons of CO2 equivalent. This is set to
triple by 2020. Under a national energy plan, by 2030, half of the country’s
power will come from coal. To meet that demand, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc
has already allowed three energy giants -- PetroViet Nam, Viet Nam Electricity
and mining group Vinacomin -- to import 70 million tons of coal by 2030. But
coal imports may or may not be crucial: the Ministry of Industry and Trade has
estimated that Viet Nam's coal reserves are already enough to generate power
for several centuries. Renewable energy, excluding hydropower, on the other
hand, will contribute only 10.7 percent of electricity production in 2030
compared to the current 3.7 percent. It is in this context that United Nations
Resident Coordinator Pratibha Mehta called on the Vietnamese government to
research and review its emissions targets "carefully." "Viet Nam
must review the long-term effects of the use of coal for electricity generation
and in industry," Mehta said. "Viet Nam lags behind most countries in
the region in terms of solar and wind power installations […] despite huge
potential.” The message was echoed by representatives of other development
partners at Tuesday's meeting. Viet Nam's environment minister Tran Hong Ha
agreed that the country "should abandon traditional industries that are
heavily dependent on natural resources." "We should switch from black
to green energy sources," he said. Viet Nam has said greenhouse gas
emission reductions could be 25 percent by 2030, instead of the committed 8
percent, if there is international support and adaptation continues to be its
main focus. “Viet Nam considers adaptation important because of the serious
climate change impacts,” said Tan of the meteorology and climate change
department. "In the short term, for Viet Nam to deal with such impacts and
develop, we have to adapt." "Mitigation is important but it requires
huge resources," Tan said, adding that the country needs to consider
carefully whether and how foreign loans could be used for renewable energy. He
told VnExpress International that even though renewable energy will likely be
cheaper with time, it’s still expensive for Viet Nam. “Viet Nam’s electricity
demand rises very fast, at more than 10 percent per year while in China it's
only 2 percent. So it’s easier for China to move to renewable energy.” Growing
budget deficit and public debt are placing further strain on Viet Nam’s
capacity to commit to more mitigation efforts, according to Nguyen Xuan Thao,
deputy director general of Department of Debt Management and External Finance. “To
switch to renewable energy, we’ll have to import the technology. So it’s very
important to seek private funding but the question is how,” said Thao. She
pointed out that even the Paris Agreement is not specific about funding
mitigation projects, which is an important issue for developing countries like Viet
Nam, which is also dealing with a decline in official development assistance
(ODA) resources. The Delegation to the European Union in Viet Nam argued that a
transition to renewable energy doesn’t require huge government funding but a
suitable policy that will encourage the private sector to jump in. Martin
Hoppe, First Counselor of the German Embassy, said “it’s expensive going down
the coal path if you consider environmental costs.” Hoppe suggested Viet Nam
introduce feed-in tariffs, a kind of subsidy, for renewable energy to encourage
the private sector and households to invest in green power. Currently, Viet Nam
offers no subsidies or tax credits for renewable energy. When it comes to power
prices, coal power costs nine cents per kilowatt-hour, while for solar, the
price is around 13 cents. Under the Support Program to Respond to Climate
Change (SP-RCC) for 2016-2020, a policy dialogue platform that brings together
the Vietnamese government, donor partners and NGOs, Viet Nam is expected to
work on new legislation to encourage wind and solar power projects. So far, the
country has secured USD1.2 billion for the upcoming SP-RCC term from the Japan
International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the World Bank and the French
Development Agency (AFD) to fund climate change-related investment, capacity
building and policy actions. Minister Ha said Viet Nam will ratify the Paris
Agreement before the COP 22 Marrakech Climate Change Conference on November 7th.
The Paris Agreement will enter into force on November 4 and so far the world's
biggest polluters including the U.S., China and the European Union have already
ratified it.
E.vnexpress.net
– October 27 - http://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/facing-donors-vietnam-urged-to-rethink-coal-fueled-growth-3489620.html
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