On 24 February, the first Steering Committee meeting of the “Support to Vietnam for the Implementation of the Paris Agreement (SIPA)” project took place, gathering representatives from MONRE, GIZ, and other project stakeholders. The project is assigned by the BMU to serve as the interface for the IKI in Vietnam. During the meeting, the Vice Minister of MONRE took the opportunity to express his sincere gratitude for the longstanding track record of successful cooperation on climate change and biodiversity conservation under the IKI as a representative of the German Embassy. The meeting served to prepare the way towards signing of the Implementation Agreement between GIZ and its political partner, MONRE´s Department of Climate Change (DCC). As a result, the project´s operational plan for 2020 was approved.

SIPA is closely supporting MONRE in the ongoing review and update of the Vietnamese NDC, and has also been providing technical advice to the revision of the Law on Environmental Protection, as one focus is on mainstreaming climate change into the legal and sectoral policy framework. SIPA also provides support on climate change adaptation. One key milestone so far has been advising the NAP development. Piloting of ecosystem-based adaptation and climate-smart agriculture approaches in the provinces of Ha Tinh and Quang Binh under the adaptation component have also been planned. During a scoping mission to both provinces, a stakeholder analysis was conducted and a feasibility study was prepared. Also, focal points for the project were assigned; namely the Provincial Department of Water Resources and Irrigation under MARD and the Provincial People´s Committee.

SIPA is further contributing to Vietnam´s mitigation targets under its NDC. Accordingly, the project helps to prepare mitigation actions in the construction and transportation sectors. In this regard, the project´s advisors supported the development of a draft circular to set up an Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) system in the aviation sector.

The SIPA project will run until 2022.