Principles of integrating climate change adaptation content into strategies and planning in Vietnam

Principles of integrating climate change adaptation content into strategies and planning in Vietnam (Internet image)

Regarding this issue, LawNet would like to answer as follows:

The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment issued Circular 06/2023/TT-BTNMT dated July 31, 2023 guiding the integration of climate change adaptation content into strategies and planning.

1. Principles of integrating climate change adaptation content into strategies and planning in Vietnam

Integrating climate change adaptation content into strategies and planning must ensure the principles specified in Clause 1, Article 4 of Circular 06/2023/TT-BTNMT, specifically as follows:

- Implementing the integration of climate change adaptation content into the strategy must comply with the integration steps according to the provisions of this Circular and relevant legal provisions; Implementing the integration of climate change adaptation content into planning must comply with the integration steps according to the provisions of this Circular and the provisions of the law on planning;

- Content of response to climate change must be integrated into strategies and planning based on analysis of climate change scenarios, assessment of climate change impacts, and identification of solutions to respond to climate change and must be reflected in the goals, content, and socio-economic targets of strategies and planning.

2. Requirements for integrating climate change adaptation content into strategies and planning in Vietnam

According to Clause 2, Article 4 of Circular 06/2023/TT-BTNMT, requirements for integrating climate change adaptation content into strategies and planning include:

- Ensuring consistency and synchronization with policies to respond to climate change and the development orientations of the country, industry, field, and locality; involving stakeholders; promoting gender equality; encouraging diversification and efficient use of resources;

- Comprehensive, objective, interdisciplinary, and inter-regional review, based on scientific and technological achievements, national and international practical experience, natural and socio-economic conditions, level of development, and national and local resources, to take advantage of the positive impacts and minimize the negative impacts of climate change;

- Consistent with the objectives, scope, and content of strategies and planning for each level, industry, field, and natural and socio-economic characteristics of the locality; ensuring feasibility, efficiency, and sustainability.

3. Contents of adaptation to climate change to be integrated with a strategy or planning in Vietnam

Contents of adaptation to climate change to be integrated with a strategy or planning include:

- Climate change scenario and impacts of climate change used to determine long-term objectives of the strategy or planning;

- Climate change adaptation solutions integrated with the strategy or planning;

- Results of analysis and assessment of climate change adaptation solutions used to determine socio-economic indicators of the strategy or planning.

(Clause 1, Article 93 of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020)

4. Steps to integrate climate change adaptation content into strategies and planning in Vietnam

4.1. For strategy

According to Article 6 of Circular 06/2023/TT-BTNMT, integrating climate change adaptation content into the implementation strategy during the strategy development process follows the following steps:

- Propose activities to integrate the content of responding to climate change into the explanation of strategy-building tasks;

- Analyze the impacts of climate change and the requirements to respond to climate change;

- Identify solutions to respond to climate change to integrate into the strategy;

- Integrate climate change adaptation content into the strategy;

- Get opinions on integrated climate change adaptation content.

4.2. For planning

Integrating climate change adaptation content into implementation planning during the planning process follows these steps:

- Propose activities to integrate climate change adaptation content into planning tasks;

- Analyze the impacts of climate change and the requirements to respond to climate change;

- Identify solutions to respond to climate change to integrate into planning;

- Integrate climate change adaptation content into planning;

- Get opinions on integrated climate change adaptation content.

More details can be found in Circular 06/2023/TT-BTNMT, taking effect on October 1, 2023.

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