On July 20, 2020, just days before approval of the NDC, the Prime Minister approved the National Climate Change Adaptation Plan (NAP) for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050. This plan now serves as a basis for sector ministries and localities to improve adaptive capacity and enhance resilience to the effects of climate change in the period up to 2030.

The NAP acknowledges climate change as one of the biggest threats to humanity. It provides direction towards an effective and efficient allocation of resources, financial and technical management, and cross-sectoral and multilevel coordination. The NAP defines four principles underpinning a national climate adaptation approach:

1. Climate change response and disaster prevention considerations need to be at the centre of development decisions.
2. Climate change adaptation shall be mainstreamed into relevant policies, strategies, and planning systems.
3. Climate change adaptation shall be associated with sustainable development, enhancing the resilience of natural and social systems, and taking advantage of new opportunities.
4. Harmony of interests shall be ensured by creating incentives to encourage stakeholders to actively participate in climate change response; and by the effective management of natural resources and environmental protection.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) is assigned to take the lead in supervising and monitoring implementation of the NAP, and to coordinate with the National Climate Change Committee, concerned ministries and branches, localities, and all other stakeholders – in particular private sector actors – on implementation and reporting. Financial resources for implementation shall be mobilized through different channels, including the state budget (central and local budgets), international funding, the private sector, and community contributions.

The plan contains an Annex with concrete tasks to be completed by 2025 and 2030, which are categorised as: management of state and resources; agriculture; natural disaster prevention; environment and biodiversity; water resources; infrastructure; and public health, labour, society, culture, sports, and tourism. MONRE will take the lead in the implementation of four of these categories:

• Strengthening the management of state and resources includes preparations for a Climate Change Law; to set up a monitoring and evaluation system for climate change adaptation activities; to establish a national reporting framework on climate change adaptation; to foster scientific research and the application of new technologies in climate change adaptation etc.
• Prevention of natural disasters addresses establishing a modern, whole-country monitoring system for climate change and sea level rise, expanding forecast technology; disaster risk zoning and warning; expanding climate risk management; and tackling losses and damages.
• Regarding the environment, MONRE will improve biodiversity conservation and will restore and better protect degraded natural ecosystems while including local communities.
• Climate change adaptation in the water sector shall be improved by MONRE taking the lead in formulating the National Strategy on Water Resources to 2030; planning on water resources for the 2021-2030 period; integrated planning of inter-provincial river basins and water sources; and completing national water resources monitoring.

Several IKI-funded projects supported preparation measures that led to the development of the NAP, including the “Support to Vietnam for the Implementation of the Paris Agreement” (SIPA) project, the “Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) in the North Central Coast of Vietnam: Restoration and Co-Management of Degraded Dunes and Mangroves” project, the “Scaling Up Mangrove EbA in the Mekong Delta” project, the “Mekong WET: Building Resilience of Wetlands in the Lower Mekong Region through a Ramsar Regional Initiative” project, and the “Applying seasonal climate forecasting and innovative insurance solutions to climate risk management in the agriculture sector in Southeast Asia” project. Four of these projects will continue to provide technical advice for implementation of NAP activities.