20 November 2015
On November 19, 2015, the kick off event for the new UfU climate protection project took place in Hanoi, Vietnam. A small delegation from the German Parliament (Klaus Mindrup, SPD, and Karsten Möring, CDU, both environmental committee), the director of the department for resource and water protection of the German Environmental Ministry Dr. Helge Wendenburg, the head of the devision for soil protection of the German Environmental Ministry Andreas Bieber, the vice president of the Vietnamese Environmental Administration (VEA) Dr. Tung, and 50 Vietnamese and German experts attended the event.
Prof. Dr. Dang Thi Cam Ha, director of the Institute for biotechnology of the Vietnamese Academy of Sciences pointed out that Vietnam needs exactly this project for the solution of complex challenges in the field of climate protection. The VEA vice president Dr. Tung refered in ist opening speach to the Vietnamese Green Growth Strategy and highlighted the importance of the project for the implementation of the new agreement between the German and the Vietnamese Environmental Ministries. Klaus Mindrup (SPD) stated that Germany will support Vietnam to meet the needs of climate adaptation in accordance with the International Climate Inititiative funded by the German Environmental Ministry. Dr. Helge Wendenburg highlighted the landmark character of the new project.
A remarkable result of the kick off workshop was that the post-mining site register that is planned to implement within the project fits perfectly to the work of the Centre for Environmental Information and Documentation (CEID) that started to prepare data collection for such a register already last year. Also the CEID aims to use this data for the planning of reclamation measures on post-,mining sites in Vietnam, meaning that the UfU project contributes to the work of the Vietnamese steakholders. Together with CEID director Dr. Nguyen Quoc Khanh a modell for reclamation of sites can be developped.
In the future, the register will provide information not only for the Vietnamese environmental administration, but also for other authorities like contruction and land-use planning adminisrations and the public. The register is the basis for future decissions on environmental protection and reclamation in the context of mining activities in Vietnam. Furthermore, the planned cultivation of bio-energy crops and their use contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and climate protection.
One of the key objectives of the project is the implementation of transparent and comprehensive communication between Vietnamese experts and stakeholders through the semiannual organisation of expert workshops on the project topics (climate protection, bio-energy, post-mining sites) to strengthen good governance and the integration of cross-sectoral expertise in the project.