Should We Be Looking Into Southeast Asia as a Model For Sustainable Development

In recent years, due to the boom in research on climate change, global interest in renewable energy has increased exponentially. Renewable energy has the potential to significantly reduce global carbon emissions and mitigate the increasingly harmful threats of climate change, as the majority of greenhouse gasses stem from human activity, primarily the burning of nonrenewable fossil fuels for energy. Consequently, countries all over the world are actively engaging in the growing green energy sector, utilizing renewable resources such as solar, wind, hydrologic, geothermal, bio, and ocean energy. In Southeast Asia, Thailand and Vietnam have both made significant progress in the renewable energy effort. This month's newsletter will provide a detailed insight into their current energy standards and practices as well as proactive steps taken to push the countries toward more sustainable methods of growth and development.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has identified Vietnam as one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to climate change. Situated along the coast of the Indochinese Peninsula, the country is frequently subject to extreme weather events such as typhoons, floods, droughts, landslides, and other natural disasters (USAID, 2022 A). While Vietnam and other neighboring countries have historically overcome these challenges, they have become more severe as the global climate grows increasingly unstable. Approximately 70% of Vietnam’s population is at risk of such natural disasters (Disasters, 2021), which has prompted the country to recognize the importance of taking proactive steps to ensure a safe and habitable environment for both current and future generations.

Vietnam has emerged as a notable contributor to carbon emissions as a result of its increase in energy usage and demand (USAID, n.d.). While its emissions may seem minuscule relative to larger nations like China, the United States, and India, Vietnam’s emissions have increased exponentially (as much as 5x) in the last two decades (USAID, n.d.). This increase has proved to be the catalyst necessary for Vietnam’s government to embrace the renewable energy sector and combat global climate change by stepping away from fossil fuels in favor of more sustainable methods.

At the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in 2021, Vietnam set the commendable goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions by the year 2050 through the implementation and expansion of its renewable energy capacity and decarbonization measures across the country (IUCN, 2022). To ensure the growth of such developments, the country has made substantial improvements to energy sector policies and regulations, fostering increased collaboration with international organizations and governments, as well as improving capacity and resilience. Such collaboration efforts have proven to be essential to the growth of the energy sector, particularly, its partnership with USAID to produce new climate-forward policies and projects aimed at enhancing clean energy by expanding their monetary capabilities and access to the latest technological advancements.

Through Vietnam and USAID’s collaborative efforts, they have implemented several programs such as the USAID Vietnam Low Emission Energy Program (V-LEEP II), a $36,250,000 project aimed at supporting the country's growing energy sector transformation to renewable resources (USAID, 2022b) and the USAID Vietnam Urban Energy Security Project, a $13,970,000 project designed to improve the growth capacity of clean energy to the entire country through advancements in policy and regulation, the mobilization of both private and public sector investments, and the overall facilitation of green energy (USAID, 2022 B).

These efforts have yielded impressive results, including a surge in private sector investments in solar and wind energy projects, an expansion of solar energy production (from less than 10 megawatts to 16,500 in less than 4 years), and the formulation of the Direct Power Purchase Agreement for clean energy from private investors, procured the Innovative Challenge Fund (worth $2.5 million) for innovative energy solutions, and other benefits as well (USAID, 2022 B). Beyond the significant growth in the clean energy sector, Vietnam has also made noteworthy improvements to sustainable development strategies in other aspects, like the targets for reducing overall plastic waste by 50% by 2025 and by 75% in 2030 as well as completely banning plastic waste imports by the year 2030 (OECD, n.d.).