5 Questions with: ISEAS's Dung
Why Vietnam's youths are taking action against climate change, and how they can make a difference.
“5 Questions with” features in-depth interviews with experts from academia, business, government, and nonprofits.
Recently, “sustainable living” and “going green” have become a trend amongst Vietnamese youths.
According to a survey, over 92% of Vietnamese youth respondents have expressed a strong desire to purchase products from companies that focus on developing environmentally friendly solutions.
At the same time, the Vietnamese government has introduced measures to combat climate change. They include the Power Development Plan 8 (PDP8), which aims to help Vietnam achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, by reducing the country’s reliance on coal and expand its renewable energy capacities, such as increasing its solar power capacity from 23% in 2022 to 34% by 2050 . It also aims to install 6 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind capacity by 2030.
However, experts have said that achieving the goal will be challenging, citing the country’s underdeveloped power grid, high costs, and other technical and legal constraints.
To better understand Vietnam’s approach and challenges in tackling sustainability and climate change, we spoke with Phan Xuan Dung, Research Officer at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute Vietnam Studies Programme to gather his thoughts on the topic.
SEAmplified: Vietnamese youths are clearly concerned with the effects of climate change on their country. Why is this the case, and what actions are they taking towards addressing these problems?
Dung: Your observation is spot-on. Vietnamese youths are concerned about climate change and environmental issues because their effects are increasingly obvious in Vietnam. Take air pollution for example: Hanoi, I believe, is the third-worst city in the world in terms of air cleanliness. Other major urban areas across the country also see heavy traffic and a significant output of carbon emissions.
Secondly, they also understand that they will be the ones to bear the brunt of these effects. This is especially true in Vietnam, as it is among the countries that are most-affected by climate change and rising sea levels.
So, it’s understandable that the youth are adopting greener living habits like waste sorting and switching to eco-friendly products. They are also leading climate initiatives and projects like tree planting and rejuvenating polluted areas. Social media is full of pages started by youths that focus on raising awareness about climate change and pollution, as well as promoting sustainable practices.
SEAmplified: What roles do the Vietnamese government and local non-governmental groups play in raising awareness of environmental issues?
Dung: In the case of government organizations, they rally youths into taking action by promoting environmental-related activities via state media.
Naturally, they also refer to many of the national goals – Vietnam’s 2030 net-zero target, having renewable energy account for 50% of Vietnam’s total energy consumption by 2050 among them – when it comes to environmental protection and adapting to climate change.
There’s also this emphasis, that Vietnam is trying its best to fulfill its commitments to tackling climate change, and that the individual can also play their part in helping Vietnam achieve them.
As for local non-governmental organizations, they do a lot of work in spreading awareness. Some also run initiatives that directly alleviate the effects of pollution on local communities.
SEAmplified: In Vietnam’s Eighth National Power Development Plan (PDP8), offshore wind power is expected to play a pivotal role in helping the country achieve net zero emissions by 2050. What explains the focus on offshore wind power?
Dung: For one, Vietnam has really high offshore wind energy potential. The World Bank estimated that the country possesses roughly 500 gigawatts of power and Vietnam only needs 50 gigawatts of electricity by 2050, so that’s tenfold the country’s energy needs in the medium term.
Secondly, offshore wind power has a higher capacity compared to onshore wind power. That means that offshore wind power can generate more returns. Not only is it a sounder investment, but it is also a more efficient power source.
SEAmplified: Some observers claim that Vietnam could struggle to meet its six-gigawatt offshore wind power target by 2030. Why is this the case, and how might Vietnam take on this challenge?
Dung: The fact is that the total capacity of all the proposed offshore wind power plants exceeds the six-gigawatt target nearly twenty-fold. So, hitting that target is not the issue.
The real issue is an issue of oversupply. If you say that you only want six gigawatts, what will happen to the rest of the proposed power plants that have not been approved? That gets investors jittery.
This problem has happened before. Vietnam took on so many renewable energy projects that the state utility company actually had to stop buying electricity produced from these projects, simply because the national power grid could not handle the surplus. That, in turn, meant that a lot of the projects became loss-making as well, since they could not sell the electricity they produced.
One way to fix this is for Vietnam to upgrade its grid to enable it to utilize renewable energy. But again, this takes a lot of money and time. The World Bank previously projected that accommodating just five to 10 gigawatts of new offshore wind capacity via grid upgrades would require at least five to ten years for the upgrades to be in place. National estimates also suggest that this undertaking could cost anywhere between US$34.8 billion to US$38.6 billion.
Coupled with the state utility company’s ongoing financial woes, the high cost makes it unlikely that Vietnam can sufficiently grow its grid capacity by 2030.
SEAmplified: With more youths concerned about climate change and sustainability, what does this mean for Vietnam’s sustainability efforts going forward?
Dung: Truthfully, youths will not have a significant impact on the energy sector as they are not involved in climate governance or energy policy – that’s all happening at the policymaker level. Where they can make a dent is in raising awareness about other things that could help Vietnam reach its net zero goals.
Some examples would be to drive changes in individual behaviors, and show their peers how they can adopt more sustainable lifestyles.
For young people to be more involved in energy policy, you’ll need to first find ways to communicate the issue in a manner that’s not only simpler but also interesting to them. Non-governmental organizations could be that bridge, by inviting youths to conferences so that they can develop a better understanding of the issues at hand, and share their knowledge with others to steadily build up youth awareness on energy policy.