Vietnam, EU launch plan to mobilize $15.8 bln for energy transition

Vietnam and the European Union (EU) on Friday launched a plan to mobilize up to $15.8 billion, an increase from the initial $15.5 billion, of climate financing pledged last year by international partners, to help the Southeast Asian nation wean off coal power.

Under the Resource Mobilization Plan (RMP) announced in Dubai during the World Leaders Summit at COP28, $8.08 billion will be offered by the International Partners Group (IPG), comprised of the EU, the UK, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway and the U.S., and $7.75 billion by the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ).

The EU-led initiative, known as the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), was agreed between Vietnam and the IPG in December 2022 at the EU-ASEAN summit in Brussels. The JETP with Vietnam was the third of its kind after that with South Africa and Indonesia.

Speaking at the launching ceremony, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh noted that the Vietnamese government has taken aggressive action to accelerate its energy transition, including developing renewable energies and deploying a plan to grow one million hectares of low-emission rice cultivation.

He proposed the IPG prioritize cooperating with Vietnam in five areas: fostering a renewable energy ecosystem, transmission and energy storage, energy efficiency, green energy transition, and reduction of emissions in the transport sector.

“Vietnam, like the UK and the European Union, has committed to net-zero emissions by 2050. And our International Partners Group, that is present here today, has committed to mobilize significant financing to support Vietnam towards this goal: At least EUR15.5 billion in public and private finance in the next three to five years,” said President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen at the ceremony.

PM Chinh announced Vietnam’s commitment to net zero emissions at COP26 in Glasgow, the UK, in November 2021. In May, the government adopted the National Power Development Plan VIII, widely known as PDP8, after several delays.

Under the JETP, two major targets are to limit Vietnam’s peak coal-fired generation capacity to 30.2 gigawatts, and to accelerating the adoption of renewables so that renewable energy accounts for at least 47% of electricity generation by 2030.