(VOVworld)- The ongoing 18^th UN Climate Change Conference in Doha, Qatar, is focusing on a new legal framework to reduce green house gas emissions and the extension of the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change, which will expire this year. As a member of the Kyoto Protocol, Vietnam has undertaken several clean development projects and persuaded investors to invest in a clean development mechanism.

Vietnam is a country with great potential for renewable energy, which can replace fossil fuels and have less of an impact on the environment. According to a recent World Bank report, Vietnam is one of the 14 countries with the highest hydropower potential. Vietnam now has more than 120,000 hydropower stations with a total capacity of 300 MW. Vietnam also has an estimated potential of 514,000 MW for wind energy and for solar energy, it is one of the countries with the most sunlight on the world’s heat radiation map. These are rich resources for a clean development mechanism or CDM. Dang Thi Hong Hanh, Deputy Director of Vietnam Environment Evaluation and Consultancy Company says: “Renewable energy is the most potential sector of Vietnam.  In addition to hydro power, we can develop wind power. Currently, our company is implementing the biggest wind power project in Bac Lieu province. We can also develop geothermy, which is costly but possible”.

In addition to utilizing natural energy, Vietnam has applied a clean development mechanism in several projects. According to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, after more than 10 years implementing a clean development mechanism, Vietnam has reduced CO2 by 30 million tones becoming one of 10 countries in the world that have significantly reduced CO2. Vietnam now has more than 300 ongoing projects and 160 registered projects implementing the clean development mechanism. These projects are involved in renewable energy, waste recycling, agricultural sub-product treatment, and afforestation. Vietnam has been active in attracting financial, technological, and human resources to implement projects reducing green house gas emissions. Nguyen Khac Hieu, Deputy Director of the Steering Committee for the UN Climate Change Conference and the Kyoto Protocol under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment says: “Vietnam has studied and evaluated its potential for implementing the clean development mechanism. We have mobilized all necessary resources to reduce 250 million tons of CO2 and that figure will rise in the future”.

Vietnam’s clean development mechanism has been in place for 10 years. The country has contributed to implementing the UN Climate Change Conference, the Kyoto Protocol, and national targets on coping with climate change.