IDA credit for Vietnam Government to support effective policy making for climate action
- June 10, 2020
- Posted by: Lyn Wilson
- Category: Environmental, Investment and Finance, Asia
An IDA credit of US $84.4 million has been authorized by the World Bank Board of Executive Directors supporting multi-sectoral policy reforms by the Government of Vietnam. The main goal of the reforms is to promote climate-resilient landscapes and green transport and energy systems.
A key target of the Climate Change and Green Growth Development Policy Financing is to develop and enhance the achievements of the government’s Support Program to Respond to Climate Change 2016 2020 (SP-RCC). The Government established the SP-RCC to lay the foundations for Vietnam’s delivery on its national climate commitments under the Paris Agreement.
The commitments under the Agreement include cutting GHG emissions by 8 percent below business as usual between 2020 and 2030, and up to 25 percent conditional on international support. There is also a variety of adaptation targets, involving mainstreaming climate planning in 90 percent of long-term socio-economic development plans.
The program involves supporting policies that should generate an increase in protection of water sources, application of water-saving practices over larger areas of farmland, additional reductions in vehicle emissions, and further scale up of renewable energy.
The program also endeavors to include climate smart landscape planning (particularly for forests and the Mekong Delta), and climate budgeting.
Vietnam’s COVID-19 response will also be enforced by upholding policy reforms that will further the national pandemic response. This will involve improving forest management, which will contribute towards reducing the risk of emerging zoonotic disease. It will also include the increasing of investments in natural resources management and climate adaptation.
Ousmane Dione, World Bank Country Director for Vietnam said:
“The new development financing will focus on areas which present the greatest opportunities for transformational interventions to address climate change challenges.” He added: “It reflects our strong commitment to help Vietnam maintain the momentum under SP-RCC while building a bridge to a new, post-2020 phase of climate action.”
The credit is made available by the International Development Association through recommitting IDA funds that have been saved from existing World Bank’s projects in Vietnam since July 2019.