Scaling-up green innovations improves local livelihoods

Viet Nam is highly vulnerable to climate change. It is among the 10 most affected countries by natural disasters as per the Long-Term Climate Risk Index (CRI). Rural poor in coastal areas and mountainous ethnic minority people are especially at risk and in need of heightened resilience.

While Viet Nam has obtained many achievements in most of the MDGs especially its remarkable decrease in the poverty rate, it has not achieved MDG7 on ensuring environmental sustainability. Despite significant Government efforts to adopt necessary legal frameworks, strategies and programmes, the policy enforcement and social norms are inadequate to ensure the environmental sustainability. Additionally, rapid industrialization and urbanization have depleted natural resources and degraded the environment, which in turn has affected local livelihoods and quality of lives.

Attending the event, UNDP Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific Mr. Haoliang Xu said: “Communities are often at the forefront of unprecedented climate change impacts, but they are least able to cope with them. National public efforts with the collaboration of the international community aim to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and to ensure that no one is left behind. These efforts, however, need to be complemented by local initiatives, which are essential to ensure the benefits of sustainable development is equally distributed”.

He also highlighted the critical role of local authorities in institutionalizing, providing financial support and creating enabling conditions for replication and scaling-up of innovations to improve communities’ livelihoods and help them adapt to climate change and protect the environment.

“It is important to have an inclusive approach and consultative processes to encourage the active participation and the contribution of all relevant stakeholders side-by-side with local communities to ensure a sense of ownership, which is essential for any successful innovation. UNDP commits to work with all stakeholders to identify, encourage the green innovations and promote replication and scaling-up of the best practices,” he said.

Since 1999, UNDP/GEF SGP has been closely working with local non-governmental and community-based organizations to provide financial grants and technical support to 150 small projects in more than 40 provinces in Viet Nam.

For more information, please contact:

Phan Huong Giang, UNDP Communications Officer

Email: phan.huong.giang@undp.org

Nguyen Thi Thu Huyen, UNDP/GEF SGP National Coordinator  

Email: nguyen.thi.thu.huyen@undp.org