In general, in the new context, the goals of COP26 or the trends and efforts to reduce global emissions will not change the EU’s determination to implement the Green Deal. We all know that climate change and its effects are problems that humanity has noticed before. 

The Green Deal was proposed in 2018-2019, but as early as 2009 when the world economy was facing an economic crisis, a United Nations report made a global call for a New Green Deal. The context is not new. It is what humanity already knows. The scientific knowledge about climate change, and what we know about its impact on the world will be even bigger than we’ve expected. 

As we have seen in the last decade, the increasing rate of emissions has urged us to accelerate the implementation of the Green Deal. Climate change is affecting all sectors and types of policies from energy and industry to agriculture and food. 

At COP26, EU countries pledged to achieve the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2050, so this was part of the Green Deal and EU Climate Walk. What was really glad for us was that many countries also understand the challenge, difficulties and reality of climate change and pledged the same goal. We’re very happy that Viet Nam is among the countries that realise the importance to make this change. 

We believe that when we have such commitments, it will help our planet grow greener and more sustainable. Viet Nam has demonstrated its determination to continue implementing the strategy in the spirit of the Paris Agreement. The Government of Viet Nam has been making great efforts to develop a long-term strategy, such as reviewing the National Strategy on Climate Change Adaptation; setting specific commitments on emission reduction targets by 2030; reviewing the green growth strategy. This is a turning point for Viet Nam and the Government is working hard to adopt the new strategy. 

In my opinion, the most important thing for both Viet Nam and the EU at the moment is to create a proper environment for the private sector to come and invest. The private sector that I want to mention here includes both foreign enterprises that want to invest in Viet Nam and Vietnamese private enterprises. Currently, Viet Nam has many large-scale private companies. It can be seen that Viet Nam is ready with enthusiasm for green growth and is on a journey towards the goal of implementing strong commitments at COP26 recently. Most importantly, your country finds it’s time to change to create a favourable environment, both legally and financially, to support this process. 

In addition to its own budget, the EU also mobilises contributions from member states and the cooperation of many sources. The budget will be spent to serve policy development roadmaps, thereby better supporting the participation of sources. In order to encourage the participation of the private sector in this process, in my opinion, Viet Nam needs to create a favourable business environment with amended legal regulations, so they can see the attention and encouragement from the Government.