Vietnam to appeal for global effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions

All countries around the world should join hands in reducing greenhouse gas emissions since climate change consequences are fiercer, an expert said at a policy discussion held by the French Development Agency in Hanoi on September 17.

Pham Van Tan, deputy head of the standing board of Vietnam’s climate change negotiation group, shared Vietnam’s key viewpoints to be voiced at the approaching United Nations Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP 21) in France.

He made it clear that countries’ joint effort to cut down greenhouse gas emissions should be based on their specific capacity and conditions and take into account the development demand of developing nations and the historical responsibility of developed ones.

Photo for illustration. Photo: vietbao.vn

An agreement expected to be reached at COP 21 must reflect the principles of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and cover adaptation and mitigation, finance, technological transfer and capacity improvement. It should also ensure the transparency of information pertaining countries’ financial, technological and capacity building contributions.

Besides, actions curbing greenhouse gas emissions also need to be supervised, Tan noted.

He added that over the past 50 years, the average temperature in Vietnam has increased by 0.5 degrees Celsius and sea level rose by 20 centimeters. Natural disasters claim about 500 lives a year and climate change costs 1.5 percent of the country’s GDP.

Experts forecast by 2100, temperature in the country could hike 2-4 degrees Celsius and the sea level could rise by 100 centimeters, inundating 40 percent of the Mekong Delta’s area and directly affecting 20 million people.

Though Vietnam is not a big greenhouse gas emitter, the emission volume is on the rise, especially in the field of energy, Tan said, elaborating that per capita emissions spiraled up 180 percent while the total emission volume surged 150 percent from 2000 to 2010.

That each country forms opinions on its own emission elimination level is considered critical to negotiations on a climate change agreement by members of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2015.