Hanoi (VNA April 14, 2025) With the theme “Sustainable green transformation, people-centered”, Vietnam will host the Partnership for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 (P4G) Summit for the first time. The summit, taking place from April 14 to 17, 2025, is an opportunity for Vietnam to affirm its strong commitment to promoting green growth, towards a sustainable and environmentally friendly economy.
Determined to work with the international community to promote green and sustainable transformation strategies
P4G is a multilateral summit on green growth. P4G has been held three times before, in Denmark, Korea and Colombia; this fourth time is held in Vietnam.
This is the first time Vietnam has hosted a multilateral summit on green growth. Countries will jointly issue the “Hanoi Declaration” to raise public awareness of the importance of responding to climate change, green growth and sustainable development.
According to Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son, in the context of sustainable development and green transformation being an inevitable trend and a strategic choice for countries, this P4G Summit is an opportunity for Vietnam to affirm its strong commitments in implementing the United Nations’ sustainable development goals, as well as its determination to work with the international community to promote green and sustainable transformation strategies at the national, regional and global levels.
The organization of the Conference also aims to concretize the policies and viewpoints of the Party and State of Vietnam on foreign affairs, deepen relations between Vietnam and its partners, enhance the position and role of Vietnam in multilateral mechanisms, thereby mobilizing international resources for development, especially in climate change response, green transformation, digital transformation, science and technology, and innovation.
In addition, in the context of Vietnam entering a new era, an era of national development, this is also an opportunity for us to affirm the Party and State of Vietnam’s guidelines on sustainable development, “not sacrificing progress, social justice and the environment to pursue pure economic growth”; green growth must contribute to promoting economic restructuring associated with growth model innovation, in order to achieve economic prosperity, environmental sustainability and social justice.
Through organizing this Conference, we hope to convey to the international community the message of a Vietnam that is determined and making efforts to transform its growth model, promote rapid and sustainable development, its achievements and potential for strong economic development as well as the country’s unique cultural values, the spirit of hospitality, friendliness and the steadfastness of the Vietnamese people.
Promoting green growth towards a sustainable and environmentally friendly economy
Green growth is identified by Vietnam as one of the key pillars in the national sustainable development strategy. This viewpoint has been institutionalized in many important documents, especially the National Strategy on Green Growth for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050, issued under Decision No. 1658/QD-TTg dated October 1, 2021 of the Prime Minister. The strategy sets out the goal of promoting economic restructuring associated with growth model innovation, aiming to achieve economic prosperity, environmental sustainability and social equity; towards a green, carbon-neutral economy and contributing to the goal of limiting global temperature rise.
After issuing the Strategy, the Government directed the development and promulgation of the National Action Plan on Green Growth for the 2021-2030 period, with 26 key task groups and hundreds of specific activities, clearly assigning responsibilities to ministries, branches and localities.
Not only stopping at issuing policies, Vietnam has also actively promoted green growth through a strong commitment at the COP26 Conference – achieving net zero emissions by 2050. This commitment clearly demonstrates Vietnam’s determination to join hands with the international community to combat climate change. Along with that, Vietnam has established the Prime Minister’s Working Group on Fair Energy Transition, to specify the roadmap for clean energy development associated with social equity.
After more than three years of implementing the National Strategy on Green Growth, Vietnam has achieved many positive results. Forest coverage remains stable at 42%-43%, among the countries with high coverage in the region. Renewable energy is developing rapidly. By the end of 2024, the total installed capacity of renewable energy sources (excluding hydropower) in Vietnam accounted for over 27% of the total capacity of the national power system. By the end of 2024, electricity output from renewable sources accounted for over 27% of the total capacity of the entire system. This is a remarkable result, demonstrating a clear shift in the energy structure.
Along with clean energy development, green finance is also becoming a pillar to promote the transformation process. Vietnam has built a framework to guide the issuance of green bonds, piloted the carbon credit market, and prioritized public investment capital for green infrastructure projects. Many international organizations, such as the World Bank, ADB, EU, JICA, GIZ, etc., have been supporting Vietnam in terms of technology, finance, and technology in green transformation and low-carbon growth projects.
In addition, the circular economy and cleaner production model have been applied in many enterprises and industrial parks, especially in industries such as textiles, footwear, food processing, etc. Many industrial parks have begun to deploy the “eco-industrial park” model, gradually linking economic development with environmental protection and sustainable use of resources. Digital transformation in the agricultural sector has also helped improve productivity and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
At the local level, many provinces and cities, such as Ho Chi Minh City, Quang Ninh, Hue, Da Nang, etc., have developed their own green growth action plans, suitable to the practical conditions of each locality. Many initiatives have been implemented, such as green transportation, urban tree planting, smart solid waste management, rooftop solar energy, or organic and circular agriculture. These efforts show that green transformation is not only a central orientation but also spreads strongly to the grassroots.
A consistent factor in this process is people. Vietnam identifies that green growth must go hand in hand with inclusive, equitable, and people-centered development. In that process, the State has actively supported retraining of the workforce, especially in industries at risk of losing jobs due to energy transition; promoted the dissemination of environmental knowledge, green lifestyle education in schools; and built sustainable consumer communities.
The achievements have been a solid foundation for Vietnam to move towards further goals in the future: by 2030, reduce greenhouse gas emissions intensity per GDP by at least 15%; by 2050, achieve a renewable energy ratio of at least 30%, digital economy accounts for 50% of GDP and 100% of large cities deploy green transport systems. In parallel, it is necessary to build an environmentally friendly lifestyle, green consumption and form a civilized and sustainable society.
The P4G Summit is a testament to Vietnam’s proactiveness and positivity in global initiatives on green growth. This is not only an opportunity to affirm its organizational capacity and international prestige, but more importantly, it is a forum for Vietnam to convey the message of a country that is strongly transforming, moving forward on the path of green development, innovation and sustainability.
Green growth is no longer an option, but an inevitable path for Vietnam to realize its aspiration for strong development, ensuring a clean living environment for today and future generations./.
