Unlocking youth potentials and innovations to implement Vietnam's climate change targets

The Youth4Climate Initiative is implemented under UNDP ‘Climate Promise’, a global programme through which UNDP is committed to supporting 115 countries in enhancing their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), by 2020.

In Viet Nam, the Youth4Climate Initiative aims to strengthen the capacity of existing youth representatives and networks to advance climate actions at national and international forums, through consistent and coordinated efforts and enhanced collaboration with the Government, UN agencies, development partners, private sector, and CSOs in future climate initiatives and policies..

At the Conference, the results of the recent global UNDP’s survey - Peoples’ Climate Vote – were shared. Similar to the majority of respondents across the world, 64% of respondents from Viet Nam declared  that they are facing a global climate emergency, with 60% of them suggesting urgent responses. The Peoples’ Climate Vote is the largest survey of public opinion on climate change ever conducted, with the participation of 1.2 million people from 50 different countries.

At the conference, Mr. Pham Van Tan, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Climate Change (MONRE) said “In order to implement the NDC targets, we need a strong will, determination, efforts and join collaboration from all socio-economic groups, of which Youth Union members and youth, as our future leaders, are playing an important role”.

“Youth are the powerhouse for innovation and action, and it is our role, as UNDP Viet Nam, to help them reach capacity. We are delighted to hear the key findings from the Special Report, the first report entirely co-written by youth, in which they have provided their unique insights and perspectives to make climate action and the NDC more youth- responsive and youth-driven.” Ms. Caitlin Wiesen, UNDP Resident Representative in Viet Nam, also highlighted. “With our partners from MONRE and HCM Youth Union, we are determined to foster an enabling environment for young citizens to participate in the transition to a greener and cleaner future, and be one of the main driving forces in implementing the Paris Agreement  and NDC targets in Viet Nam.”

In his opening remarks, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Luong, Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union shared that “We are willing to introduce new creative initiatives that can attract the mass participation of youth and generate momentum for youth to respond to climate change as part of their self-awareness and continuous lifestyle.”

During the conference, youth presented the key findings of the Special Report ‘Youth for Climate Action in Viet Nam’, which is the first report fully led and co-written by 20 outstanding youth at the National Writeshop organised in December 2020. The co-authors were selected based on their outstanding performance during the three regional Youth4Climate consultations from July to November 2020.

The Special Report depicts the bottlenecks youth have faced in undertaking climate action as well as the accelerators they identified to fast track their contributions to the NDC implementation and the transition to a greener and low-carbon Viet Nam in four key thematic areas: (i) Climate Mitigation, (ii) Climate Adaptation, (iii) Nature-based Solutions, and (ii) Climate Policies.

Ms. Mai Hoang, the youthlead reporter said. “I hope that the report will be widely shared with the Government of Viet Nam and other stakeholders for our voices to be heard. Moreover, I believe that we will be successful in implementing the Roadmap for Youth4Climate Action, with specific proposals to enhance youth capacity in mainstreaming the NDCs, with the right support from youths as well as the Government and other relevant organizations”./.