On 20 June 2020, the Vietnam National Action Plan on Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) for the period 2021-2030 was signed and approved by the Prime Minister. The Plan was presented and officially launched on 20 November 2020 in Danang City, during a national Workshop on Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) for Sustainable Development, organised by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), with the support of the European Union and the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
Around 100 participants, including representatives of relevant Ministries, Provincial Departments and other stakeholders participated in the event, which also provided a platform to review the implementation of the previous Strategy on Cleaner Production and discuss the findings of the Assessment on SCP Progress in Vietnam (2016-2020) conducted by EU SWITCH-Asia experts.
In his opening remarks, Mr. Duchateau Koen, Head of Cooperation at the EU Delegation to Vietnam, confirmed the EU’s commitment to support Vietnam during the implementation of the National Action Plan on SCP. This will also contribute to Vietnam’s commitment in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 12 on ensuring responsible consumption and production patterns.
"The EU has adopted the European Green Deal in December 2019 and hopes to achieve transformative change, working closely with partner countries, including Vietnam, to strengthen SCP policy and implementation towards a low-carbon, resource-efficient and a more circular economy while contributing to poverty reduction and addressing multi-dimensional inequality," said Mr. Duchateau.
The EU is providing support to MoIT and its partners to implement the NAP on SCP, including through the SWITCH-Asia SCP Facility.
Sustainable Seafood Consumption and Production Guidelines are being developed and capacity will be strengthened, involving retailers/supermarkets in Vietnam, on how to adopt and effectively implement these guidelines in their everyday business activities. This initiative will draw experiences and lessons learned from the recently completed EU SWITCH-Asia project, Sustainable and Equitable Shrimp Productions and Value Chain Development in Vietnam, particularly on how the project has empowered more than 50,000 small-scale producers in improving the sustainability of the shrimp value chain. The EU’s strong support is fully aligned to the priorities and ambitions set out in the EU’s Farm to Fork strategy.
Since the programme’s inception, SWITCH-Asia has been active in promoting SCP in Vietnam with 12 completed grant projects on sustainable supply-chain and production systems on selected products, sustainable lifestyles, energy efficiency and sustainable transport.
Two ongoing projects focus on promoting supply and demand for eco-fair agri-food processing products “ECO-FAIR” and supporting agri-food SMEs in integrating biomass gasification technologies in their industrial processes “BEST”. These will strongly contribute to the implementation of the National Action Plan and making SCP a practical reality for the country and its people.
