Minister Do Duc Duy works with Japanese partners on greenhouse gas emission reduction activities and the Joint Crediting Mechanism Mechanism

At the meeting, Mr. Honna Hitoshi, Chairman and General Director of Erex, discussed with Minister Do Duc Duy about the pioneering efforts of Erex Group in the field of investment in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, especially in implementing biomass power projects and creating special carbon credits under the Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM). In addition, the Group is also interested in carbon credit exchange and hopes to have information exchange from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

At the meeting, the Minister highly appreciated the contributions of Erex Group in localities such as Yen Bai and Tuyen Quang, where the company is implementing important projects, and congratulated the company on the achievements. The company's projects not only contribute to increasing the proportion of renewable energy in Vietnam's total electricity supply, but also support the country in implementing the goals of the National Power Development Plan for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050.

The Minister also emphasized that Erex's biomass power projects make an important contribution to the implementation of Vietnam and Japan's greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, aiming towards the goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2050.

In further discussion with the leaders of Erex Group, the Vietnamese government currently attaches special importance to the issue of green development, circular economic development and aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, focusing on science and technology development, digital transformation, and green transformation. Highly appreciating the JCM mechanism proposed by Japan and to date, many countries have participated. The Minister said that Vietnam wishes to be a pioneer in developing low-carbon emission technologies, especially cooperation programs between Vietnam and Japan in this field will be a model in cooperation and development for other countries to learn from.

Regarding the contents raised by Mr. Honna Hitoshi at the meeting, Minister Do Duc Duy said that at the 9th meeting of the Joint Committee between Vietnam and Japan held on October 31, 2024, Vietnam proposed that the two countries continue to discuss, negotiate, and move towards signing an international treaty on cooperation in implementing the JCM Mechanism. This treaty will ensure compliance with the provisions of the Paris Agreement and the greenhouse gas emission reduction target in the NDC (Nationally Determined Contribution).

The Minister also informed that, currently, Japanese agencies are conducting consultations on the proposal to sign an international treaty, and hopes to receive an early response from Japan to continue with the negotiation and signing procedures.

After the international treaty is signed, there will be a legal basis to implement cooperation activities within the framework of the JCM Mechanism. However, the Minister also suggested that before the international treaty is signed, the Joint Committee of the JCM between Vietnam and Japan will need to agree on how to divide carbon credits for a number of pilot projects, in order to address the concerns of businesses such as Erex.

Regarding the credit sharing ratio proposal of Erex Company, the Minister requested the Department of Climate Change to continue researching and reporting to the Minister as well as the Joint Committee for consideration at the Committee's meeting in the coming time. 

Currently, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is also presiding over the drafting of a Government Decree on the management of carbon credit exchange activities abroad. This draft Decree will stipulate the permission for partner countries to use purchased carbon credits to contribute to the partner country's NDC.

At the end of the meeting, the Minister thanked Chairman Honna Hitoshi for sharing information and proposing specific contents related to the JCM Mechanism, especially on the credit sharing ratio. The Minister also requested the Japanese Government, Japanese partners and Erex Company to continue supporting Vietnam in implementing climate change response activities, especially greenhouse gas emission reduction projects. 

The Minister emphasized that the implementation of carbon credit exchange activities and greenhouse gas emission reduction results not only create motivation to promote the emission reduction process, but also need to ensure the harmony of interests of the parties, while contributing to the implementation of national targets on greenhouse gas emission reduction according to the NDC of Vietnam and Japan.