On the morning of September 26, Party Central Committee member, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Do Duc Duy and leaders of units of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment worked with the Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Vietnam led by Ms. Ramla Khalidi.

In an interview with Minister Do Duc Duy, Ms. Ramla Khalidi informed that over the years, UNDP has been a trusted partner and has cooperated effectively with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. The two sides have had a deep and comprehensive cooperative relationship in many important areas, including: climate change, biodiversity, circular economy, plastic pollution, marine economy, water resources, and many other areas.

Following the strong commitment of the Government of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at COP26 and witnessing the efforts of the entire Vietnamese political system to strive for net zero emissions by 2050, Ms. Ramla Khalidi said that UNDP is always ready to accompany Vietnam and hopes that Vietnam's achievements will bring benefits to the country and will "lead" other countries to make commitments for the goals of emission reduction, equitable energy transition and climate change adaptation.

In order to more effectively implement cooperation programs between the two sides and work towards common goals, Ms. Ramla Khalidi hopes that in her position as head of the natural resources and environment sector, Minister Do Duc Duy will promote more cooperation projects on plastic waste reduction, nature conservation tourism, and support for the global biodiversity protection fund. In addition, there will be guidance and support for GEF projects as well as UNDP activities in sustainable development projects.

Minister Do Duc Duy sincerely thanked Ms. Ramla Khalidi and UNDP Vietnam for the very effective and practical cooperation results in the past time. The Minister believes that based on the achieved results, the Ministry and UNDP will continue to strengthen cooperation in areas where UNDP has strengths and the Ministry prioritizes implementation. Regarding the proposals of UNDP, Minister Do Duc Duy directed the specialized units of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to promptly implement them.

Sharing with Ms. Ramla Khalidi, Minister Do Duc Duy said that recently the Prime Minister had a working session with the largest economic groups in Vietnam and the units to present priorities in green transformation, circular economy development... Therefore, the Minister asked UNDP to propose solutions to create livelihoods, build equitable energy transition projects...

Regarding the programs that have been and are being cooperated between the two sides, in the coming time, Minister Do Duc Duy suggested that UNDP continue to support Vietnam in enhancing the capacity to adapt to climate change for vulnerable and disadvantaged groups; promote solutions to enhance the resilience of vulnerable groups to the negative impacts of natural disasters and extreme weather, and implement the Resource Mobilization Plan to implement JETP.

The Minister proposed that UNDP continue to cooperate to develop initiatives to promote circular economy to meet the requirements of environmental protection and natural resource conservation on the basis of increasing recycling, reuse, and refilling, especially for plastic products, to limit resource waste, create new economic values ​​and job opportunities. The Minister proposed that the two sides jointly research and implement pilot projects in a number of localities, thereby drawing experience and replicating successful models nationwide.

In the field of seas and islands, the Minister hopes that UNDP will continue to cooperate in developing policies to protect the marine environment, raising public awareness of the importance of protecting marine resources and developing support programs for coastal communities so that they can actively participate in natural resource conservation.

In the field of biodiversity cooperation, Minister Do Duc Duy hoped that the cooperation between the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and UNDP would make important contributions to conservation and sustainable development efforts in Vietnam. The Minister asked Ms. Ramla Khalidi and UNDP to support research and development of standards in line with the international biodiversity framework.

In addition, Minister Do Duc Duy also hopes that the two sides can develop plans and programs to reduce plastic pollution, while encouraging the active participation of businesses and the community...

Minister Do Duc Duy hopes that after today's meeting, the agencies of the Ministry and UNDP will continue to promote many new and effective cooperation opportunities. At the same time, information and programs on sustainable development of natural resources and environment will be strongly enhanced, thereby changing the awareness and behavior of the community about environmental protection and natural resource protection.

Minister Do Duc Duy and Ms. Ramla Khalidi, Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Vietnam, agreed on common views, major goals and the highest determination to jointly implement the commitments on Climate Change and Environmental Protection made by both sides.