The provincial Green Growth Action Plan in Viet Nam has so far focused on low-emission development, reduced greenhouse-gas emission, green production, green lifestyle, and sustainable consumption. However, there is a need for more integrated and environment-sensitive Green Growth Action Plans which can link the production, consumption, and market components of Green Growth with the safeguard of natural resources and maintenance of ecosystem services, including biodiversity, in addition to low greenhouse-gas emission. Development of such Green Growth Action Plan will be a novel initiative in Viet Nam which can ensure more sustainable economic growth within sustainable environment. The Lam Dong’s 2021-2030 Green Growth Action Plan, vision to 2050, outlines nine orientations: (1) Enhance the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency, (2) Reduce greenhouse gas emission from all sectors, (3) Control waste production and improve waste treatment, (4) Promote climate-smart and sustainable land use system, (5) Conserve water, natural resources, and biodiversity, (6) Enhance market access and export of main commodities, (7) Develop green and sustainable tourism, (8) Promote green lifestyle and sustainable consumption, and (9) Create enabling conditions for transitioning towards a green economy. These nine orientations complement the priorities in the existing environment and economic policy in the province. They cover the whole nature-economy cycle. Several tools were used to assess potential economic and environmental benefits from implementing the green growth measures, compared with the baseline condition. Land Use Planning for Multiple Environmental Services (LUMENS) which can model ecological and economic processes was used to assess impacts of measures in all assessed sectors (agriculture, forestry, tourism, transport, and water resource management) except energy. Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning (LEAP) model was used to track energy consumption and production in all sectors, with identification and analysis of mitigation options using the Marginal Abatement Cost Curve (MACC) and Measure-Correlate-Predict (MCP) models. GenericRiver (GenRiver) hydrology model was used to assess the impact of land-based measures on watershed functions. Under the Plan, the province’s gross regional domestic product can reach VND 85,019 billion (around USD 3.7 billion at an exchange rate of VND 23,000 per USD 1) by 2030 from three main economic sectors: agriculture, forestry and tourism; with support from three other sectors: water resource management, transport and energy. Greenhouse-gas emissions will also be lower, by about 19%, compared to the baseline condition, achieved through reducing emissions from all six sectors, including waste treatment. The greenhouse-gas emission per capita is estimated at 4.92 tons CO2 equivalent (tCO2e) in the baseline and 3.98 tCO2e per capita in the Plan. The Plan requires about VND 63,919 billion (around USD 2.8 billion) as investment. By putting aside mega-cost measures in the transportation and energy sectors, such as construction of a monorail and a wind-energy plant, the total investment cost substantially reduces to VND 21,361 billion. If all measures were included, the energy sector has the largest share of total investment (48%), followed by transport (36%). In the more ‘sparing’ option, the energy sector still has the largest share (52%), followed by agriculture (23%) and forestry (12%). A set of 43 indicators for monitoring and evaluating implementation of the Plan have been proposed, in which 12 are considered main indicators. They were developed based on indicators suggested by the United Nations Environment Programme, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Viet Nam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment, Indonesia’s South Sumatra Masterplan for Renewable Resources-Driven Green Growth 2017–2030, and the Sustainable Development Goals. The indicators capture impacts on economy, employment, resource intensity, emissions, natural assets, and ecological impacts. |
