Vietnam has first tool to measure emissions

The British Embassy and the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam have just released a toolkit to support energy policy making and greenhouse gas emission reduction in Vietnamese.

The toolkit was released on March 30. Photo: British Embassy

With the nameVietnam 2050 Calculator Pathways, this toolkit allows users to understand energy choice scenarios, the correlation between these scenarios and the orientation of choosing greenhouse gas emissions levels of Vietnam, said the British Embassy.

This is a web-based computational model that describes the picture of Vietnam's energy supply and demand, with combinations of energy development scenarios and calculations of Vietnam's greenhouse gas emission reductions from now to 2050. This is a user-friendly tool, anyone can access and explore energy scenarios from now to 2050 with just an Internet connection.

A year ago,With technical support from the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), and financial support through the UK's International Climate Change Fund (ICF), policymakers in relevant ministries and sectors in Vietnam have received the Calculator 2050 version, which is built on the original version of DECC. However, due to time constraints, the Vietnam 2050 Calculator version has not been completed in terms of language, which is a mixture of English and Vietnamese, and does not yet have some detailed scenarios for economic sub-sectors.

Meanwhile,Vietnam has a great interest in the 2050 Calculator model for its scientific and transparent nature, as well as its usefulness as a reference in the process of developing policies related to energy and greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Prosperity Fund has provided financial support to the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade to continue upgrading this tool.

The tool has been updated to reflect Vietnam’s newly issued energy policies, supplementing and detailing data on energy consumption by industries, households and commercial sectors. Cost estimates for greenhouse gas emission reduction scenarios and solutions are also presented in the model.

Mr. Vu Dinh Duy, Deputy Director of the Department of Industrial Safety Techniques and Environment, Ministry of Industry and Trade, assessed that Vietnam's 2050 Calculator model is not only for policy makers but also for the public, academics, and social activists. Currently, the project is supporting the development of a provincial version of the Calculator 2050, choosing Da Nang as the pilot city to build this model. It is expected that by March next year, the Da Nang version of the Calculator 2050 will be completed. This tool will support Da Nang in establishing action plans and targets related to greenhouse gas emission reduction and green growth, thereby connecting with national policies and targets.

Representatives of ministries and sectors attending the launch ceremony on March 30 expressed their hope that the model will be accessed and used long-term in the process of consulting and developing energy policies in Vietnam. This tool is also expected to support Vietnam in consulting and sharing with stakeholders in the process of proposing solutions and targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions towards the goals set out in theIntended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) Report,implementing the Paris Agreement and was consulted during the preparation of the Third National Communication.

The UK was the first country to pass the Climate Change Act in 2008, setting ambitious targets of reducing emissions by 36% by 2020 and 80% by 2050 compared to 1990 levels. It also set out plans to achieve these targets. The UK Department for Energy and Climate Change published the "2050 Calculator" in 2010 to invite debate on how to achieve the targets.

According to VNE