The Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) and the World Bank (WB)’s Information for Development Program (InfoDev) jointly held a conference on designing a Climate Innovation Centre (CIC) in the country Nov 15. The move is aimed to boost the renewal of technologies relating to local climate change, and clear out barriers to renewal and innovations by providing support services for domestic small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). More than 120 delegates to take part in designing CIC Vietnam will define solutions to expand environmental technologies in the country, including green growth, access to financial sources, company growth and business start-up, market shift, policies and legal regulations. Technological innovation is crucial for reducing long-term losses caused by climate change and contributes to Vietnam’s goal of green growth. The private sector, especially SMEs, have great potential for inventing energy-saving, environmentally friendly equipment that can be used to tackle climate change, participants said. “It is necessary to design a CIC in Vietnam,” MoNRE Deputy Minister Tran Hong Ha said, however, noting that the implementation process should be done in accordance with its laws and human resources. The joint efforts by participating countries will assist Vietnam in mitigating the negative impacts of climate change, he hoped. Finnish Ambassador to Vietnam Kimmo Lahdevirta said that Finland will also support InfoDev Vietnam in both research and bilateral and multilateral cooperation activities which is designing and operating CIC in some countries, such as Ethiopia, India, Kenya and South Africa. The Senior Advisor of the Mekong region also committed to help Vietnamese farmers produce and research rice varieties which can respond to climate change. As one of the five hardest-hit countries by climate change, Vietnam is making efforts to build a monitoring system on climate change and sea level rise in order to put it into operation by 2015. The WB estimated that Vietnam will need some $850 million per year for climate change projects from now to 2050. (Vietnamplus.vn Nov 15, vov.vn Nov)
