SUPPORT PROGRAM TO RESPOND TO CLIMATE CHANGE (SP-RCC) IN VIET NAM

Transcription

1 SUPPORT PROGRAM TO RESPOND TO CLIMATE CHANGE (SP-RCC) IN VIET NAM MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT 1

2 Over the past time, SP-RCC has achieved multiple positive outcomes, especially in terms of raising public awareness of and strengthening the state management authorities capacity in responding to climate change. The national, regional and local institutions, policies, strategies and plans have been prepared, reviewed and adjusted taking into account various scenarios of climate change. A variety of support arrangements, policies, programs, and projects to respond to climate change have been widely carried out across Vietnam. In addition, the establishment of a policy forum involving the participation of various relevant Ministries, agencies, and development partners; the initiative to harmonize donor s funding into the state budget to support the response to climate change in Vietnam, enable the simplification of administrative procedures, ensure the control of focus management and investments by the Government and allocation of resources to respond to climate change have turned SP-RCC into a model for the partnership between developed and developing countries which was highly appreciated by the international community. (Extract from the Conclusion of the Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai at The meeting between the Vietnam National Committee on Climate Change and the SP-RCC development partners in Hanoi, 8 October 2014). 2

3 WHAT IS SP-RCC? The Support Program to Respond to Climate Change (SP-RCC) is an initiative taken by the Vietnamese Government and the development partners (i.e. Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Agence Française de Développement (AFD)) to open the policy dialogue between governmental agencies and international development partners on all climate change issues in Vietnam. Since the establishment in 2009, SP-RCC has received the support from various development partners including Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Agence Française de Développement (AFD), Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), World Bank (WB), Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), and Export-Import Bank of Korea (K-Eximbank). SP-RCC has been designed as a medium-term program with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) being the coordination agency. So far the program consists of two phases: the first phase spanning over the period and the second phase At the moment, preparation is underway to develop the program for the period MISSION The mission of SP-RCC is to support the implementation of the overarching climate change policies in Vietnam namely the National Target Program to Respond to Climate Change (NTP-RCC) 2008 (Phase I), the National Climate Change Strategy (NCCS) 2011 and the Vietnam Green Growth Strategy (VGGS) 2012 (Phase II). SP-RCC focuses on the development and implementation of national strategies, policies, legal and institutional frameworks, and priority projects aimed at addressing the challenges of climate change in Vietnam. OBJECTIVES SP-RCC serves as a forum for policy dialogue on climate change issues between the Vietnamese Governmental agencies (i.e. ministries), the international development partners and other stakeholder groups such as civil society organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), research institutions, and the private sector. SP-RCC offers opportunities for open discussion on policy actions to promote climate change adaptation, greenhouse gas emissions mitigation and capacity enhancement in responding to climate change in Vietnam. Specifically, the objectives of SPRCC include: 1) Support the implementation of the tasks mentioned in the NCCS, VGGS and the sectoral strategies related to climate change; 2) Support the development of policy, science, technology and finance that are provided by the Government, international development partners, NGOs and the private sector to respond to climate change in Vietnam. National Climate Change Strategy (NCCS): As a comprehensive strategy, NCCS sets the mid-long term visions for all sectors for effective output of climate change policies. Vietnam Green Growth Strategy (VGGS): To achieve a low carbon economy and to enrich natural capital, VGGS sets the strategic tasks, solutions and implementation organization for green growth to become the principal direction in sustainable economic development in Vietnam. National Target Program to Respond to Climate Change (NTP-RCC): Aiming at a low carbon society, NTP-RCC s objectives include (i) assessment of climate change impacts to sectors and provinces, (ii) development of action plans for responding to climate change, and (iii) capacity building, communication and monitoring and evaluation of the program implementation. Development Partners Vietnamese Government NCCC MONRE Line Ministries NCCC Office PCU* Focal Points for SP - RCC (*) SP-RCC Program Coordination Unit (PCU) was set up by MONRE to be the focal point all activities, providing logistical and secretariat support to the program SP-RCC Implementation Structure 3

4 HOW SP-RCC OPERATES? STRUCTURE To fulfill its mission, SP-RCC sets goal themes which reflects the strategic tasks of the high-level policies (i.e. NTP-RCC and NCCS). Policy actions being identified to achieve these goals take forms of: (i) development of policy, strategic and legal documents; (ii) technical activities such as establishment of standard, methodology, database and mechanism; and (iii) study and research activities. Under SP-RCC, the policy actions have been implemented by ten ministries namely Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE), Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), Ministry of Finance (MOF), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT), Ministry of Construction (MOC), Ministry of Transportation (MOT), Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), Ministry of Health (MOH), and Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST). During phase two of the program, a list of priority investment projects has also been identified. Parallel with the efforts at national level, these projects are expected to support governmental authorities to respond to climate change at provincial level. PHASE I: PHASE II: NTP-RCC as the overarching policy that guides the goals and scope of SP-RCC Pillar 1: Mitigation Pillar 2: Adaptation Pillar 3: Crosscutting 1. Energy efficiency 2. Renewable energy 3. Forestry 4. Waste management 5. Agriculture 6. Water resources 7. Coastal management 8. Natural resources 9. Infrastructure (transport, etc.) 10. Health 11. Agriculture 12. Mainstreaming 13. Financial mechanism 14. Awareness raising NCCS as the overarching policy that guides the goals and scope of SP-RCC Goal theme 1 - Proactive disaster preparedness and climate monitoring Goal theme 2 - Food and Water Security in the context of climate change Goal theme 3 - Proactive response to sea level rise and disaster risk in vulnerable areas Goal theme 4 - Sustainable forest management and development Goal theme 5 - Reducing GHG emission in the social-economic development process Goal theme 6 - Strengthen government capacity for CC response Goal theme 7 - Community capacity development Goal theme 8 - Increase investment and diversify financial resources Category/Issue based Task/Goal - based The evolution of SP-RCC during

5 IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS Policy Matrix Formulation Activities: Based on the development strategies and priorities of the sectors, ministries and provinces propose the priority policy actions (PAs) to respond to climate change. Timeline: Before mid-year (June of the previous year). Key outputs: A policy matrix which consolidates all the proposed PAs to be submitted to the Prime Minister for approval; Information sheet describing the PAs background, expected impact and contribution, and challenges and solutions to implement. Evaluation Activities: Line ministries, development partners and coordination agency to organize evaluation meetings to evaluate the implementation of policy actions and discuss the policy actions for the next cycle. Timeline: At the end of SP-RCC cycle (April) Key outputs: - Evaluation sheets indicating the achievements of the policy actions, the challenges or bottle-neck issues and the lessons learnt; - Evaluation reports to be submitted to MONRE and the Chairman of National Climate Change Committee for approval. Based on open and transparent dialogues, and stakeholder participation Monitoring Activities: Line ministries, development partners and coordination agency to organize monitoring meetings to report on the progress of policy action implementation. Timeline: In the middle of SP-RCC cycle (September). Key outputs: - Monitoring sheets indicating the progress of the policy actions, the implementation schedule and the challenges or bottle-neck issues; - Monitoring reports to be submitted to MONRE and the National Climate Change Committee. FINANCIAL MECHANISM The annual cycle of SP-RCC implementation All budgets contributed to the program by international development partners comply with the budget support modality. In principle, the budget for implementation of the policy actions under SP-RCC is allocated from the Government s recurrent budget and conforms to the government regulations approved by the Prime Minister (No. 8981/VPCP-QHQT dated 10 December 2010). Specifically for the SP-RCC priority investment projects which have no direct linkage with the development partners budget support, the financial mechanism follows the guidance of the Joint-Circular No. 03/2013/TTLT-BTNMT-BTC- BKHDT dated 5 March Development partners also provide financial and technical support to line ministries for implementing the policy actions in the form of technical assistance (i.e. grant). 5

6 OUTCOMES OF THE PROGRAM Over the past six years, the SPRCC has proved to be a useful and effective platform for policy dialogues, and has achieved a number of important results in mainstreaming, adaptation and mitigation fronts. The SPRCC has provided an important Inter-Ministerial Policy Dialogue Platform on Climate Change in Vietnam; contributed to developing institutional and technical capacity of the Vietnamese Government, significantly expanded the visibility of Vietnam in and increased its ability to contribute to regional and global climate change dialogue; provided an additional source of funds mobilized for Climate Change prioritized tasks of the government; and established a new and innovative scheme to finance Climate Change projects in Vietnam. (Extract from the Donors Statement at The meeting between the Vietnam National Committee on Climate Change and the SP-RCC development partners in Hanoi, 8 October 2014). SP-RCC has been widely commended as an innovative approach to international support to a country in responding to climate change. During the two phases of the program from 2009 until now, financial support from international development partners to Vietnam has reached million US Dollars. With such support, SP-RCC has enabled the development and implementation of various policy actions and projects that support the implementation of the NTP-RCC and NCCS aimed at addressing climate change issues in Vietnam. By the end of 2015, numerous departments/agencies from ten ministries will have been involved in the development and implementation of 252 policy actions in eight sectors: Water/Water Resources (including Coastal Management), Agriculture/Forest (including Biodiversity), Infrastructure, Energy, Waste, Health/Education, Mainstreaming and 6 Development Partners of SP-RCC Financial contribution (as of October 2014) (Unit: Million US Dollars) JICA AFD CIDA (grant) WB DFAT (grant) K-Eximbank Total

7 Financial Mechanism. Through SP-RCC, Vietnamese Non-governmental Organizations (e.g., the Climate Change Working Group and the Vietnamese Non-governmental Organizations and Climate Change Group) and the private sector (e.g., Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry) have been given the formal and regular opportunities for participation in Climate Change policy dialogue and information sharing. The processes of policy dialogue and stakeholder participation being made possible by the program have contributed to more timely and effective integration and consideration of climate change in the development of strategies, policies, master-plans and other activities of different sectors in Vietnam. Ministries Number of Policy Actions MONRE 72 MARD 71 MOIT 35 MPI 25 MOC 20 MOT 13 MOF 11 MOH 10 MOET 7 MOST 1 7

8 Japan International Cooperation Agency Contact address: Support Program to Respond to Climate Change (SP-RCC) Program Coordination Unit (PCU) Address: 10 Ton That Thuyet Street, Ha Noi Website: