The EU Delegation to VN and embassies of some EU countries held a press conference on climate change in Hanoi on Wednesday. The event was part of the European Climate Diplomacy Week in the country from September 19-25. 

Ambassador and head of the EU Delegation to VN Bruno Angelet said the EU had assisted the Vietnamese Government to build a report on intended nationally determined contributions (INDC) which will be sent to the Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. It is also helping the country to achieve those INDCs. 

The bloc was working with VN's Ministry of Planning and Investment in green growth and with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to reform the energy industry with non-refundable aid worth 350 million euros (more than US$392 million), he noted. 

Belgian Ambassador Jehanne Roccas said her country’s Government was working with VN to deal with climate change through policy dialogues among specialists on laws, policies and activities. The two countries will begin a programme on climate change and the environment worth 85 million euros ($95.3 million) in 2019. 

The Dutch Government assisted VN's universities to promote research on climate change and sustainable development, Dutch Ambassador Nienke Trooster said, noting that the countries also co-operated in water resources management, agriculture and food. 

A 50-million-euro loan from Germany’s KfW Development Bank is financing a wind power plant in VN. The factory is set to be inaugurated this November and help reduce 28,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions every year, according to the German Embassy. 

At the press conference, representatives of the embassies of Demark, Finland, France, Italy, the UK and Spain also gave information about ongoing and future co-operation projects on climate change with the Southeast Asian nation. 

They said as VN was among the 10 countries most vulnerable to climate change, it should become a low-carbon economy. 

VNS