French Ambassador H.E. Jean Noel Poirier to Vietnam, said he expected Vietnam would affirm specific commitments in the global joint effort in UN Conference on Climate Change (COP 21) to be held later this year in Paris.

"Vietnam is one of the countries in the risk of being severely affected by climate change (CC). We hope Vietnam would attend the COP 21 with its high-level delegates, to present its ambition, the national plan and commitments with concrete steps, for instance, how much greenhouse gas emission Vietnam would plan to reduce," said Poirier in a press conference on the" European Diplomatic Day on climate".

The French Ambassador said at COP 21, all 195 participating countries are making their own commitments to reduce the emissions which cause the greenhouse effect, so that a global agreement on climate could be signed to limit global warming to below 2°C.

In developing countries like Vietnam, there are different levels of commitment as compared with other developed countries, to cut emissions of greenhouse gases, in view of different levels of economic development. He said that the political viewpoint with determination was the key factor for the countries, so that the policies on paper could come to life.

In COP 21 this time, according to Mr. Poirier, a new feature is that the attending countries are heading towards a legally binding agreement on green house gas emission reduction and climate change adaptation. The countries attending COP 21 will also discuss measures to mobilize the financial resources of about US$ 100 billion a year to fight climate change, this funding source is mainly ear-marked for developing countries.

British Ambassador to Vietnam, His Excellency Giles Lever confirms that developed countries in EU has a leading role in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Ambassador Lever expects that Vietnam could avoid the mistakes that England had made in the past about economic development, in which high-tech of low-carbon economy should have been applied. Ambassador Lever believes that Vietnam has some good policies such as green growth policy, and energy savings, and it is hoped that Vietnamese Government would exert its efforts in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, energy subsidies, finding alternative energy such as renewable energy, which is less dependent on fossil fuel.

The scientific evidence shows that the average increase of world temperature is 2°C above the level in pre-industrial period. With the pace of emission increase, causing the greenhouse effect as it is today, the global temperatures could increase by between 3 and 5°C by 2100, causing serious consequences such as melting ice, rising sea levels (up about 60 cm more) and increasing extreme weather phenomena in many regions of the earth, including Vietnam. The European Union (EU) is implementing emissions reduction target of 20% by 2020. The EU is committed to emission reduction of 80-95% by 2050 compared with 1990.

Trong Tan