On June 18, Nguyen Thanh Binh, Deputy Chairman of Thai Nguyen People’s Committee, met with a working group from Global Advisory, a leading consulting firm in Australia specialised in providing in-depth financial consulting, to discuss solutions to promote green growth and reduce carbon emissions in the province.

The green landscape at TNG Dai Tu garment factory in Thai Nguyen, photo Dung Minh

Binh noted that with its rapid development, Thai Nguyen was paying special attention to green growth and has approved the provincial Green Growth Action Plan for 2021-2030, and simultaneously signed a MoU on green growth cooperation with Saigon Telecommunication and Technologies Corporation.

To achieve green growth and build a carbon credit market, the province will focus on areas such as agro-forestry; environment; energy; transportation; industry; construction and urban development.

“Thai Nguyen hopes to participate in the domestic and international carbon credit market, becoming an attractive destination for large domestic and international investors,” said Binh.

A representative from Global Advisory revealed that with abundant resources and large forest coverage, Thai Nguyen has great potential to execute decarbonisation projects, develop projects to absorb carbon in soil, and produce carbon credits.

Through these projects, Thai Nguyen can reduce emissions and generate significant revenue through a carbon credit scheme. This not only aligns with environmental sustainability goals but also creates new opportunities for economic development.

The two sides agreed to continue to organise more working sessions to discuss details in hope that Thai Nguyen can soon participate in the domestic and international carbon credit market.

The Vietnamese government is finalising a project on developing domestic carbon market and gradually perfecting regulations on emission reduction, greenhouse gas inventory, and carbon quota allocation to be able to deploy the domestic carbon market from 2025.

The working session with experts from Global Advisory in green growth and carbon emission reduction is therefore of great significance to Thai Nguyen.

Also on June 18, Kristoffer Böttzauw, director general of Danish Energy Agency, had a working visit to a NatSteelVina plant in the province. The trip was within the framework of the Vietnam-Denmark Energy Partnership Programme for 2020-2025.

In light of the programme, many Vietnamese businesses will have the opportunity to participate in the Voluntary Agreement Scheme to promote energy efficiency in the industrial sector. NatSteelVina Thai Nguyen is one of the pioneering businesses to participate.

Böttzauw expressed his satisfaction with the progress of the project, adding that cooperative activities carried out at NatSteelVina could be a source of inspiration for other enterprises in Vietnam to conduct more in-depth research and invest in energy efficiency.

To achieve the green growth target, contributing to the low-carbon transition and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, Thai Nguyen is making strides to greening its diverse economic sectors; promoting sustainable consumption; and ensuring the transition process is rooted in the principles of equality, inclusion, and enhanced resilience.

Following the green growth journey, the province has selectively attracted large-scale projects powered by clean and state-of-the-art technology run by investors from China, Taiwan, South Korea, and Singapore, as well as developed countries, prioritising licensing ventures based in industrial parks, along with focusing on building a green environment at industrial parks and clusters.

In 2023, responsive to the programme on planting 1 billion trees 2021-2025, through Thai Nguyen Industrial Park Management Board, businesses had registered to plant 6,600 new trees, six times more than in 2022.

Le Kim Phuc, head of Thai Nguyen Industrial Park Management Board, said that the Board has focused on guiding businesses to complete legal documents on environmental protection; ensuring legal compliance in environmental protection; and issuing documents urging businesses to strictly implement the on environmental protection at industrial parks.

“The consistent stance of the province and synchronous solutions of state management agencies have helped bolster businesses’ awareness of environmental protection during the production and business process,” Phuc said.

In its green transformation journey, Thai Nguyen is expediting a raft of solutions geared towards achieving carbon neutrality and its sustainable development goals.

These efforts will be duly rewarded by the fresh living environment for individuals and businesses working in the province.