Blog

Rice production accounts for a significant portion of many Asian countries’ greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and Vietnam is one of the world’s largest rice producers. To meet the targets set out in its nationally determined contribution (NDC) and to maintain transparency in national communications (NC), Vietnam assesses the spatial variation of emissions across its rice-producing regions.

• 12/30/2021
• Sadie Shelton

USAID is supporting renewable energy in Vietnam — through strategic, discrete interventions to remove barriers for the private sector.

• 11/09/2021
• Kristin Kelly Jangraw

There is an urgent need for crop varieties and technologies that help smallholder farmers adapt to climate change.

• 08/17/2021
• Agrilinks Team

Congratulations to the 13 winners of the 2020 Climatelinks Photo Contest!

This year’s theme, “Healthy Forests for a Healthy Future,” focuses on nature-based solutions to climate change such as active reforestation, plantations, agroforestry, and natural regeneration. The winning photos tell the stories of individual and community change agents for sustainable development, forest protection, and a climate-secure future.

• 01/25/2021
• Steve Hardeman

As a boy growing up on the outskirts of Vietnam’s Cat Tien National Park, Koren Gren spent his days surrounded by the natural world. Today, he still does.

• 01/15/2021
• Winrock International

Energy efficiency is a critical ingredient in the fight against climate change. Reducing the amount of electricity needed to carry out even simple daily tasks can help curb greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change.

• 12/08/2020
• Nora Brown

Planners at USAID and in host country governments need to choose how to invest funds to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from land. Should they focus on establishing or strengthening protected areas in the east? Restoring mangroves in the north? Improving timber harvesting practices in the south? In each country, there are many choices.

• 09/28/2020
• Tim Holland

The USAID Vietnam Forests and Deltas program (VFD), implemented by Winrock International, is supporting the Government of Vietnam’s efforts to better manage natural resources through an innovative Payment for Forest Environmental Services (PFES) program, which pays forest owners for conservation. By preventing deforestation and forest degradation, PFES reduces emissions from land use and conserves forest ecosystems that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

• 04/16/2020
• Winrock International

Since 2012, the USAID Vietnam Forests and Deltas program (VFD) has been helping the Government of Vietnam develop and operationalize a national Payment for Forest Environmental Services (PFES) program that has already directed over USD $500 million to forest owners as financial compensation for maintaining forest cover. For example, Vietnam’s hydroelectric power plants now reward upstream forest owners whose trees keep soil in place, avoiding the sediment buildup that drives up operating costs.

• 03/19/2020
• Lauren Keller

The wheels are spinning, but the vehicle is going nowhere. It’s rainy season in Vietnam, and dirt roads have become rivers of mud. It’s not uncommon for a vehicle to become mired in the muck. But in this case, the vehicle holds much-needed funds that won’t be delivered to community-based forest owners unless a team of determined forest fund staff rescues it. It’s a sticky situation — but one that may not happen much longer.

• 03/13/2020
• Jennifer Norfolk

“No pilots fail, but no pilots scale.” Dr. Bruce Campbell, director of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security, lamented this on the first morning of the 5th Global Science Conference on Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA).

• 12/09/2019
• Justin Kosoris headshot

Farmers around the world increasingly rely on long-range weather forecasts when planning their crops. Traditional timing for planting is no longer as reliable as it used to be, and neither are the rains, thanks to shifts in climate patterns.

• 09/30/2019
• Christine Chumbler

This is the first blog in a two-part series detailing the Climate Finance Readiness Program (CF Ready), a program implemented by GIZ that receives joint support from USAID and the Ministry for Environment of the Czech Republic on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

• 02/26/2019
• Regina Bernhard, Johannes Schroeten, Matthew Ogonowski

Developed jointly with the Vietnam Ministry of Construction and officially approved in May 2017, GGAP aims to strengthen the foundation for low-emissions energy systems in Vietnam’s construction sector.

• 05/31/2018
• Climatelinks

With collaboration between Winrock, the Government of Vietnam and the private sector, Vietnam’s payments for forest environmental services has the potential to be a model for other countries struggling to conserve forest areas — and a way to help people live more secure and prosperous lives.

• 02/28/2018
• Lauren Keller, Nga Dang