Nghe An strengthens environmental protection and social safety in payment for greenhouse gas emission reduction
On November 6, in Vinh City, the World Bank (WB) and the Vietnam Forest Protection and Development Fund had a meeting with the Nghe An Provincial Forest Protection and Development Fund on the implementation progress and WB's recommendations on the North Central Region Greenhouse Gas Reduction Payment Agreement (ERPA).
Attending the meeting were a delegation of experts from the World Bank and representatives of the Vietnam Forest Protection and Development Fund, along with representatives of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Forest Protection Department, and leaders of the Nghe An Province Forest Protection and Development Fund.
At the meeting, Mr. Duong Ngoc Hung - Deputy Director of Nghe An Forest Protection and Development Fund reported on the pilot implementation of the transfer of emission reduction results and financial management of the agreement on payment for greenhouse gas emission reduction in the North Central region in the province and environmental and social protection measures (ERPA) in the province in the recent past, along with the WB's recommendations on the agreement on payment for greenhouse gas emission reduction in Nghe An.
In 2024, the revenue from the agreement to pay for greenhouse gas emissions reduction in the North Central region, the Forest Protection and Development Fund has notified the beneficiaries according to regulations. Specifically, including: 40 forest owners who are organizations (Special-use and protection forest management boards; Forestry companies; armed forces units); 211 commune-level People's Committees assigned by the State to manage natural forests and 27,467 forest owners who are households, individuals, and communities (most of whom are ethnic minorities).
Up to now, the Fund has disbursed to 14 forest owners who are organizations to implement forest protection contracts for 109 communities, support livelihoods for 441 communities and implement silvicultural measures to nurture natural forests with an area of 267.29 hectares...
At the meeting, delegates highly appreciated the results achieved in Nghe An, and focused on discussing and proposing solutions to remove some difficulties and obstacles in the implementation process and specific tasks in the coming time: Strengthening communication work about the project; Developing a plan to organize training courses to deploy and guide relevant subjects to implement measures to ensure environmental and social safety; Disbursing ERPA funds according to the approved plan; Publicly posting the list of ERPA payments at the commune People's Committee headquarters and village community houses before making payments; Supporting residential communities and commune People's Committees to develop plans to support livelihood development in accordance with practical needs and requirements of the World Bank...
