Project

VN11 Sustainable Urban Cooling in Viet Nam Cities

At a Glance

Strategic Outcomes SO1 Reduced GHG emission, SO3 Increased access to sustainable services, SO6 Enhanced adaptation to climate change
Start Date Q1  Jan 01, 2021
End Date q4 Dec 31, 2024
Funding Source Earmarked
Actual Budget (USD) 1,000,000
Budget Percentage %
Actual Expenditure (USD)
Status Active
GGGI Share (USD)
Poverty and Gender Policy Markers poverty
Name of Client (Lead/Prime implementer if GGGI is part of a consortium) Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment
Participating Organization (Funding/donor) Kigali Cooling Efficiency Program
Name of consortium members, if any United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Thematic Area
  • Green Cities
GGGI Project Code : VN11
Project Manager and Staff +
Huong Ta

Senior Program Officer

@tathanhhuong

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Project Context

Viet Nam’s rapid urbanization and accompanying fast-paced real estate sector are driving emissions from cooling, which are expected to increase under BAU scenario from 34MTCO2eq in 2017 to 80.7MTCO2eq by 2030. This growth is being driven largely by lack of comprehensive urban planning and municipal enforcement of building standards, awareness/capacity to develop urban cooling projects by governments and financiers, lack of finance for passive cooling interventions, low-level building efficiency codes,  inexpensive electricity, low MEPS for ACs, and low industrial efficiency.

Climate change adaptation and international support has focused on flood and cyclone risk – Viet Nam is the most at-risk country to flooding globally. The NDC

notes that state resources can only meet about 30% of the financial need for climate change adaptation. Consequently, extreme urban heat is a major public health issue that is being relatively overlooked.

Extensive national government and expert consultations have concluded that greater municipal intervention on cooling and extreme heat is a crucial but missing element that is urgently needed to complement and enforce national standards, labelling, refrigerant phase-out plans and the NCAP and maximize mitigation and climate benefits from efficient, climate-friendly cooling.

Project Overview

The project will support the three pilot cities of Hanoi, Can Tho and Tam Ky, selected to represent the range of municipal administrations in Viet Nam, to adopt Urban Cooling Action Plans (UCAPs), finance pilot projects and unlock stable municipal budgets for intervention on extreme heat and urban cooling. Interventions will include improved urban design, nature-based solutions, passive cooling measures, municipal incentives, district cooling and public procurement.

In parallel, to unlock increased finance for UCAP implementation, a national cooling fund will be established under the existing Environmental Protection Fund and contributions sought from public budgets and international donors. Viet Nam has committed to link this proposed project into enhanced NDC implementation and its results into future iterations of its NDC.

Viet Nam has included cooling and extreme heat in its enhanced NDC following consultations with Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Viet Nam (MoNRE) by UNEP/GGGI in preparation for this proposal. The rapid growth in urbanization in Vietnam and the accompanying development of new buildings across major cities in Vietnam present an immense opportunity to future-proof investments while also meeting the energy and building related emission target of the NDC.