According to experts, Vietnam is the 27th-largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world, accounting for 0.72% of total global emissions.
The Paris Climate Agreement was discussed at a conference held by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MONRE) on August 18 in Ho Chi Minh City.
Deputy head of Vietnam's Climate Change Agency Pham Can Tan announced that as of August, China was ranked 1st among the 195 countries which signed the Paris Climate Agreement in terms of greenhouse emissions, according to VietnamNet.
The US was ranked 2nd, though President Donald Trump has announced the United States’ withdrawal from the agreement.
Vo Tuan Nhan, MONRE's chief, stressed that greenhouse emissions are a crucial factor in climate change, and that 95% of greenhouse gases are produced by human activity, while only 5% are produced by nature.
An environmentalist at the meeting also cited a recent report which said that nearly 90% of Vietnamese manufacturing operations use outdated technology, much of it from China. For example, 75% of imported machinery and production lines have been in use since the 1950s and 1960s.
The report also pointed to the fact that only 10% of Vietnamese enterprises use modern technology, with only 2% using high technology, much lower percentages than some of Vietnam’s Southeast Asian counterparts. In comparison, 31% of Thai enterprises use modern technology, while the figures are 51% in Malaysia and 73% in Singapore.
Moreover, Vietnam continues to develop coal-fired thermal power plants, which are the primary source of electricity for the country, generating up to 35% of electricity. According to current plans, that number is projected to increase to 53.2% by 2030.
In many other countries, the construction of such plants has been phased out because of their detrimental effect on the environment.
[Photo via Vietnam News]
