Barriers on the journey to Net Zero emissions

Speaking at the training program titled "Enhancing Media Capacity on Carbon Neutrality," jointly organized by Viet Nam Agriculture and Nature Newspaper and TH Group, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Thi Mai Thao, Head of the Department of Environmental Management at Hanoi University of Natural Resources and Environment, highlighted the challenges and obstacles Viet Nam faces in its journey to achieve the net-zero emissions target.

Viet Nam's commitments

To adapt to climate change, Viet Nam has pledged that by 2030, it will be able to control the degradation of natural resources, ensure a minimum forest coverage of 42%, develop essential climate-resilient infrastructure, and provide clean water for at least 95% of the population.

By 2050, the country aims to manage natural resources efficiently, maintain forest coverage at 43%, develop a modern and synchronous infrastructure system, and ensure 100% of the population has access to clean water. In terms of greenhouse gas emission reduction, the target is to reduce emissions by 43.5% by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

At COP26, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh affirmed, "Viet Nam, a country with advantages in renewable energy, will build and strongly implement greenhouse gas emission reduction measures using its own resources, along with coordination and support of the international community, especially developed countries, in terms of finance and technology transfer. Viet Nam will implement mechanisms under the Paris Agreement to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050."

To realize this goal, priority programs include increasing the use of renewable energy, transitioning the energy system, improving energy efficiency, developing green real estate, expanding public transport and electric vehicles, accelerating forest management and agroforestry, improving agricultural productivity, and enhancing climate change adaptation capacity.

In the forestry sector, Viet Nam, along with 140 other countries, endorsed the Glasgow Leaders' Declaration on Forests and Land Use. Under this declaration, participating nations agreed to conserve and accelerate the restoration of forests and terrestrial ecosystems, as well as promote sustainable commodity production that does not cause deforestation or land degradation.

The declaration also commits to facilitating the adjustment of international financial flows to reverse forest loss and degradation when 90.94% of the world's forest area lies within the countries signing the declaration. This marks an important step forward in integrating policy, finance, and practical action to protect the planet's "green lungs."

The Government of Viet Nam has implemented a plan to plant one billion trees by 2025, including 690 million trees in urban and rural areas and 310 million trees in protection forests.

In the energy sector, Viet Nam officially joined the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) in December 2022. Under this commitment, Viet Nam aims to increase the rate of renewable energy in total electricity generation to at least 47% by 2030 (compared to the plan of around 36%) while limiting coal-fired power capacity at 30.2 GW.

Notably, the peak emission timeline for the power sector is also shortened from around 2035 to 2030, with a maximum emission cap of 170 million tons of CO₂ per year. This represents a major turning point, underscoring Viet Nam's determination to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in a sector that accounts for a large proportion of national emissions.

In parallel with the Government's efforts, Vietnamese enterprises have identified emission reduction as a vital condition for maintaining competitiveness and position in export markets. From there, enterprises have developed strategies to meet international importers' requirements on emission reduction throughout the export process.

Barriers to achieving net-zero emissions

According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Thi Mai Thao, Viet Nam is currently facing four major barriers in its journey to achieve the net-zero emissions target, the first of which is institutional.

Viet Nam has not yet established a comprehensive legal framework for the carbon economy, carbon credits, or measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) systems. Management remains fragmented, and there is a lack of financial incentives. Moreover, energy, land, and transport planning have not yet integrated the Net Zero objectives, leading to conflicts during implementation.

The second barrier lies in finance and resources. The cost of the green transition is extremely high, access to international financing remains difficult, renewable energy infrastructure is still limited, and the energy mix remains heavily dependent on coal.

The third barrier lies in capacity and technology, stemming from the lack of emission inventory and management tools as well as the high cost of clean technology investment. Currently, most enterprises, especially small- and medium-sized ones, still lack tools for emission inventory and management, while the investment cost for clean technologies remains extremely high. In addition, data required for sustainability reporting is insufficient, and there is a serious shortage of experts in this field.

"This makes it difficult for domestic enterprises to adapt to new international mechanisms such as the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), the JETP initiative, or Net Zero standards in global supply chains. Viet Nam also has yet to establish a domestic carbon credit market that would allow businesses to offset or trade their emissions," the representative of Hanoi University of Natural Resources and Environment analyzed.

The final barrier concerns technical and monitoring capacity. A reliable MRV system is still lacking; emission data remains fragmented and inconsistent across sectors; and technical human resources, especially at the local level, are limited. There are also insufficient legal tools to mandate businesses’ emission reduction obligations, and there is a shortage of budget for periodic measurement and inventory activities, especially in the agriculture and waste management sectors.

Given these challenges, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Thi Mai Thao emphasized that the press must play a key role in raising public awareness while also fulfilling its functions of policy oversight, counterargument, and behavioral guidance. She further stressed that the press should serve as a bridge to foster cooperation among stakeholders and that environmental journalists themselves need to be equipped with deeper knowledge and specialized skills to meet the new professional requirements.