Opening Speech

by Vice Minister HUA DUC NHI

His Excellency Heherson Alvarez, Secretary, the Philippines Presidential Adviser on Global Warming and Climate Change.

Mr. Yam Malla - Executing Director of the Community Forest Center of the Asia-Pacific Region (RECOFTC)

Mr. Andrew Speedy- Chief Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of United Nations to Vietnam

Distinguish guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

First of all, on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural development (MARD) of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam I would like to welcome all of you to Hanoi to participate the First “Forest and People: Carbon Financing” Forum of the Asia-Pacific Region. I also would like to welcome and express my gratitude to the RECOFTC and FAO for this initiative and for selecting Hanoi to organize this important event.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Through out the world, deforestation and forest degradation situation has been widespread in spite of great efforts for sustainable forest management of nations. Deforestation and forest degradation have consequently caused serious impacts including protection capability, soil erosion, land slide, draught, and flood and bio-diversity loss. These consequent impacts are even more serious as stated in the recent scientific reports that deforestation and forest degradation are second top reasons of the global  warming situation due to restriction of CO2 sequestration and producing 20% of emission worldwide. In recognition of the special importance of forest to mitigate negative impacts of climate change, two years ago at the COP 13th Conference signatories of the United Nations Climate Change Framework in Bali- Indonesia endorsed a so-called Bali Action Plan of which included Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) initiative for developing nations.

In almost developing nations, the deforestation and forest degradation  are mainly caused by over-exploitation to supply growing demands for forest products of people, change of forest land use for other purposes including agriculture, industry and urbanization. To address the problem, it is vital to have more effective regulations and economic instruments, which are often resulting in greater costs for improving the policy and management systems and professional capacity as well as opportunity costs to compensate for the loss of revenue from harvesting or using forest land for other purposes. Most of these costs are covered by state budget of developing countries or forest owners who are poor households and local communities.  While many benefits from sustainable forest management exercise are not limited to forest owners of the one country or one community, but can include international values such as carbon sequestration and existence values. Thus, it is now the right time for us to create new solutions and financing mechanisms for sustainable forest management to respond to important questions such as: Who are beneficiaries of the better forest management? Who is willing to pay for these benefits? Who has the ability to pay? Who is carbon owner and how to pay for this service equally to make sure that involving parties are benefited from this service correspondingly and satisfactorily?

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In Vietnam, forest plays important role to the economic development, poverty reduction and environment protection aspects. Currently, it is estimated that about 25 million people are living in forested, mountainous, rural and remote areas. Most of them are ethnic people and suffering from hard living conditions with low literacy and backward production practices. Forest is, therefore, always of their main incomes, which contributes to the poverty reduction. For years, the Government of Vietnam has made great effort to implement programs and projects to improve livelihoods of the local people together with increasing forest cover.

With such comprehensive measures and appropriate policies implemented by the Government together with strong support of the people, we are proud and glad to inform you that Vietnam has successfully achieved the poverty reduction target within the Millennium Development Goals. The poverty rate has reduced from 35% in 2000 to 15.5% in 2006. Besides, forest in Vietnam has been passed the regressive period with the annual increase of forest cover of 0.6% and 38% is covered by forest.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

One of the challenges facing to Vietnam to improve the sustainable forest management and prevent deforestation and degradation is how to increase the competitiveness of the sustainable forest management, create more investment sources to forest protection and development while offering more benefits from forest. In recent years, the Government of Vietnam has paid due attention to forest valuation and piloting payment for forest service environment, particularly water supply for drinking, hydro power and landscape values to partly and financially compensate local poor communities for their efforts of forest protection and development. The development of the carbon market supported by the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and recently introduced REDD has created new opportunity to developing countries like Vietnam. Therefore, Vietnam appreciates and strongly supports these new initiatives and financing mechanisms which are considered as potential and important investment sources to support developing countries and local communities to implement sustainable forest management. Additionally, developing countries would also benefit more incomes from selling carbon certification to developed nations. In April, first CDM plantation project in Cao Phong district of Hoa Binh province was approved. In July 2008, Vietnam was selected among 14 countries participating to Forest Partnership Carbon Facility (FPCF) and in March 2009 Vietnam was selected among 9 countries in the world for UN-REDD program and now is 1 of 2 countries are ready to implement UN-REDD program.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Vietnam has pleasure and honor to be selected a hosting country of this important regional Forum. The Forum is a good chance for us to review potential carbon financing opportunities to our countries and local communities as well as analyzing thoroughly potential risks implying these financing mechanisms.  Carbon market as well as other markets, once being created, will be operated constantly. We, in no way, must be able to restrict the carbon market’ defects to which we must know how to manage and control in order to promote its effectiveness and being an attractive investment channel to climate change mitigation interventions. Carbon financing would only be a potential opportunity for forest and people if the rights of local communities and ethnic people are respected, governance is improved and benefits are shared equitably.

2009 is an important milestone to acknowledge efforts made by international community to climate change, of which remarkably COP 15th will be organized for signatories of the United Nations Climate Change Framework in December in Copenhagen of Denmark. Through this Conference we expect that financing mechanisms such as REDD would be an official financing mechanism dominating international agreements on climate change and our Forum today itself would contribute actively to and be an important part of that process.

I wish all distinguished guests and participants to have full and fruitful discussions and that First Regional Forum on “Forest and People: Carbon Financing” will be a big success.

Wishing you all a good health, joyful and meaningful working days and visits in Hanoi.

Thank you,