Vietnam to Receive $15.5 billion for Energy Transition

The deal marks the third of a series of major financing agreements known as “Just Energy Transition Partnerships” — first launched at last year’s COP26 summit Glasgow — in which rich nations help pay for heavily coal-dependent emerging economies to move toward greener energy sources. Similar multi-billion dollar deals have been made with South Africa and Indonesia.

The Vietnam agreement was officially signed off during the EU-ASEAN summit in Brussels on Wednesday.

“Vietnam’s new commitments to peak emissions and expedite the transition from coal to renewables signal Vietnam’s seriousness about achieving a green transformation for its people,” said U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry.

The funding will help bring Vietnam’s peak emission date forward by five years to 2030 and will see the power sector’s emissions top out at 170 million metric tons, a drop of around 70 million tons from the country’s previous forecasts. Headline generation capacity in coal will go no higher than 30.2 gigawatts, a drop of almost 7 gigawatts compared to what was planned, while renewables will make up almost half of the power supply by the end of the decade.

A key concerns by environmental groups leading up to the deal was that it would overlook jailed activists in the country. The agreement will have a reference to building “societal consensus” but the money will not be conditioned on the release of activists, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Two further partnerships with Senegal and India are being lined up for next year.