Conference on funding for climate change response support

On the morning of October 28, in Hanoi, the National Committee on Climate Change (NCCC) held the 3rd expanded conference with sponsors for the support program to respond to climate change (SP-RCC). Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai, Permanent Vice Chairman of the NCCC, attended the conference. Also attending the conference were delegates from ministries, branches, and sponsors of the SP-RCC program.

Overview of the Conference

Reporting at the Conference, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha said that in 2012, the Prime Minister approved the 2013 capital allocation of the SP-RCC Program for 11 priority projects with a total budget of 350 billion VND (accounting for 14% of the total capital demand of 11 projects and about 2.06% of the total approved capital for 62 priority projects under the SP-RCC Program). Localities with priority projects allocated in 2013 include: Hau Giang province 30 billion VND; An Giang province 20 billion VND; Kien Giang province 30 billion VND; Lao Cai province 40 billion VND; Lai Chau province 40 billion VND... Also according to the reports of the localities, the capital disbursed up to June 30, 2013 was 86.6 billion VND (accounting for 21.9% of the total allocated capital). It is expected that by December 31, 2013, 100% of the allocated capital will be disbursed. The proposed capital allocated from the SP-RCC Program in 2014 is approximately VND 1,052 billion.

Also according to Deputy Minister Tran Hong Ha, in 2013, the SP-RCC Program is expected to continue to receive about 278 to 328 million USD. Specifically: the French Development Agency (AFD) expects 20 million Euros (concessional loan); the World Bank (WB) expects 70 million USD (concessional loan); the Japan International Development Agency (JICA) expects 150-200 million USD...

Speaking at the Conference, the representative of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) highly appreciated the role of the Government and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in leading the implementation of mechanisms and policies in the implementation of SP-RCC; at the same time, the monitoring role of the Government and ministries and branches has been enhanced... However, there is still an opportunity to further improve the contributions to climate change response, ensuring that in 2014 there is a basis for decision making and budget planning to improve invested projects. Vietnam needs to balance between adaptation and mitigation of natural disasters.

At the Conference, representatives of donors pledged to provide financial support through the SP-RCC Program for 2013-2014 and the following years to help Vietnam respond to climate change; increase technical support for the development and implementation of policy actions of ministries and sectors to further support Vietnam... also discussed some limitations calling for continuous, strong commitment from governments, ministries and people.

According to QĐND