The UK and the European Commission (EC) have agreed to sign a proposal to Vietnamese government for setting up a partnership for energy transition between the group of seven developed economies (G7) and Vietnam, British Cabinet Office Minister Alok Sharma has stated.
The UK minister released the information at his meeting in London on Thursday with visiting Vietnamese National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, who arrived on Tuesday for a three-day visit at the invitations of Speaker of the UK House of Lords John McFall and Speaker of the House of Commons of the UK Lindsay Hoyle, the Vietnam News Agency reported.
Minister Sharma told Hue that Britain PM Boris Johnson and EC President Ursula von der Leyen had agreed to sign a letter to Vietnamese PM Pham Minh Chinh proposing the establishment of a Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) between G7 and the Southeast Asian country.
Sharma, who is also the President of the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) held in Glasgow last year, expressed his impression at Vietnam’s determination in the transition to green and renewable energy.
He hoped the Vietnamese government would make political commitments in relation to this issue on the thresholds of the COP27.
The official also showed interest in bilateral cooperation in finance, regulation reform, and experience sharing in power transition as well as measures to promote the partnership in the future.
NA Chairman Hue welcomed G7’s selection of Vietnam as one of the three prioritized countries to receive support to promote their energy transition processes to realize their commitments at COP26.
With the support of the international community, Vietnam is determined to implement the commitments, including the ambitious one to reduce net emissions to zero by 2050, Hue affirmed.
Vietnam will continue acting quickly, vigorously, and comprehensively, especially in the field of energy transition and infrastructure development in response to climate change, to fulfill its commitments, the NA leader pledged.
The commitments Vietnam made at COP26 are strong political ones showing the nation’s determination to respond to climate change, reduce emissions, and shift to a green and circular economy, as its contributions to the common efforts to maintain and protect the global climate, said the top Vietnamese legislator.
In order to ensure the implementation of these commitments, the Vietnamese legislature enhances its role in law-building and in budget supervision and allocation by institutionalizing such commitments, strengthening investment in research and development activities, using clean technologies, and speeding up green growth solutions, Hue told his host.
Like other developing countries, Vietnam is likely to face challenges on the way to realize its commitments, so support from international partners, including the UK, is very significant in the process, Hue said.
He asked the UK to continue to strengthen cooperation with Vietnam in greenhouse gas emission reduction and climate change response by assisting the Southeast Asian country in personnel training and providing it with financial and technical help to build a road map for the transition to green and renewable energy.