Việt Nam has over 14.7 million hectares of forest with a coverage rate of 42 per cent. — Photo thesaigontimes.vn

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has revised the amount of CO2 transferred in 2018-2019 in the north central region.

The ministry sent a report to the Prime Minister on the authority to transfer nearly six million tonnes of residual carbon dioxide (CO2) in the region in that time.

The report states that, by the end of 2023, the MARD has transferred 10.3 million tonnes of CO2 to the World Bank (WB). WB also had a letter confirming the transfer of about 95 per cent of the transferred emission reduction results to Việt Nam.

WB previously confirmed the results of reducing emissions in the North Central region in the 2018-19 period, reaching 16.21 million tonnes of CO2. Of which, the amount of CO2 credit transferred to the WB under the Emission Reductions Payment Agreement (ERPA) is 10.3 million tonnes.

According to the signed ERPA, the WB has the right to purchase up to five million additional tonnes of CO2 at US$5/tonne and about 95 per cent of the transfer results will be transferred back to Việt Nam to contribute to the nationally determined contribution (NDC) according to commitments in ERPA and regulations in Decree No 107/2022/ND-CP.

WB has offered to buy an additional one million tonnes of CO2 from reducing emissions in the north central region in the 2018-2019 period. The MARD has reported to the Prime Minister, proposing a plan to transfer an additional one million tonnes of CO2 to the WB.

At the same time, MARD also proposed to handle 4.91 million tonnes of CO2 in the 2018-2019 period in previously sent documents.

The ministry also consulted ministries and People's Committees of six provinces in the region, including Thanh Hóa, Nghệ An, Hà Tĩnh, Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị and Thừa Thiên Huế, on a plan to transfer one million tonnes of CO2 to the WB and propose to handle the remaining carbon credit.

Regarding the additional transfer of one million tonnes of CO2 to the WB within the maximum additional volume of five million tonnes of CO2, authorised by the Government and on behalf of the Government of Việt Nam and forest owners in six provinces in that area of Việt Nam, the MARD will transfer it to the WB during the implementation of ERPA.

The WB does not propose to buy more for the remaining 4.91 million tonnes of CO2 from emissions reductions. Therefore, the ministry proposed, Việt Nam has the right to transfer to other potential partners.

However, up to now, the ministry has not received proposals on the exchange and transfer of this emission reduction. Accordingly, Việt Nam can use this remaining emission reduction to contribute to the NDC.

In case an organisation or partner is interested and proposes an exchange or transfer, the ministry will research and propose a plan to manage and use this revenue source and get opinions from the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the six north central provinces, then report to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision to ensure it does not affect the results of contributions to the NDC.

In case there is no agreement from the Prime Minister on the transfer of remaining emission reductions in the 2018-19 period (including one million tonnes of CO2 as proposed by the WB and 4.91 million tonnes of remaining CO2), the MARD proposed the Prime Minister to allow the ministry to send a letter to the WB about not transferring an additional one million tonnes of CO2.

Until there are evaluation results of the implementation of Decree No 107/2022/ND-CP, the MARD will propose a management and use plan for the remaining emissions reduction and report to the Prime Minister. — VNS