Posted on March, 10 2022

Tay Ninh, 9th March 2022 – The project “An energy transition for a 1.5 degree world: Accelerating Progress in Asia” will harness the right nexus of champions at the corporate, sectorial and subnational levels to help accelerate the adoption and scale-up of energy efficiency and renewable energy (EE & RE) solutions in Tay Ninh province. The project, sponsored by HSBC, is implemented by WWF-Viet Nam and World Resource Institute (WRI) through the Clean Energy Investment Accelerator (CEIA) in cooperation with Tay Ninh’s Department of Industry and Trade (DOIT) and Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).

Tay Ninh has been the highlight for foreign investments with an annual growth rate of 7.2%, higher than other locations in the country. It has a total of 19 industrial parks and industrial clusters with textile and garment plays as one of the key industries. Data from the Viet Nam textile & apparel industry directory 2020 shows that from 2016-2020, the province attracted the highest number of FDI for Viet Nam Textile & Garment sector, with 48 projects and FDI’s legal capital up to 1,272 million USD.  While the global textile and garment industry is setting increasingly ambitious climate change targets across global supply chains, this project will help position local industry to be successful in meeting these requirements
 
Added to that, Tay Ninh has great potential for solar energy with the average sunny hours per year up to 2,400 which attract high interest in investment for solar project. According to the provincial People’s Committee, so far 9 solar farms are operating.
 
Given the extensive benefits of clean energy and strong will of provincial leaders, Tay Ninh could become the lead in transforming its industrial sectors to a clean and green operation, especially in the energy sector. In the next four years, the project will work mainly with Textile & Garment companies in Tay Ninh to identify their existing problems and challenges in using renewable energy; adopt energy efficiency solutions and develop bankable projects with at least two big textile and garment companies or industrial park applied EE & RE solutions. The project will also support Tay Ninh DOIT rolling out its plan to promote EE & RE to businesses. Other key project activities include capacity building on EE & RE, development of a roadmap for EE & RE for subnational actors and building guidebooks and tools for commercial and industrial energy users to increase RE in Tay Ninh province.
 
The project is a part of The Climate Solutions Partnership, a five-year collaboration that combines HSBC's financial expertise with the technical knowledge and experience of WRI, WWF and a network of local partners in scaling up climate innovation ventures, nature-based solutions and help transition the energy sector towards renewable in Asia.
 
Viet Nam is one of the five target countries of the Climate Solutions Partnership beside China, India, Indonesia, and Bangladesh to accelerate progress toward energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions. The partnership sets target to accelerate the transition to net-zero, by creating more opportunities for climate solutions to become commercially viable, as well as protecting and restoring biodiversity. It will work with businesses, financial organisations, government bodies and research institutions, to remove the barriers to commercial financing for innovative climate solutions.

Mr. Tim Evans, CEO of HSBC Vietnam, said: “There is now a growing realisation that we are reaching the point of no return in terms of climate change. To achieve a global net-zero target, every organisation and every person has an important part to play. As a bank, the most significant impact we can make is helping our clients to transition to producing lower carbon emissions through providing a source of finance that facilitates the investment needed.  In order to support the Vietnamese Government’s aspirational climate goals and its ambitious commitments to become a net zero economy by 2050 following the COP26 meetings, we have committed to helping arrange up to USD12 billion of direct and indirect sustainable financing for the corporate sector in Vietnam by 2030”.

“We are also trying to lead by example, as a result we are setting ourselves a target to make our own operations net zero by 2030 or sooner. To accelerate the global transition to net zero, we also want to unlock climate solutions such as clean tech innovation, sustainable infrastructure, and nature-based solutions. This is why we have joined forces with WRI and WWF to form a philanthropic partnership to help climate solutions become a commercial reality and have real-world impact”, he added.
 
Dr. Van Ngoc Thinh, CEO of WWF-Viet Nam, shared “Climate change is a global crisis that affects every single country. Ignoring it and not taking immediate action will put us all at risk of an uncertain future. WWF-Viet Nam is content to work with HSBC and WRI/CEIA to support Viet Nam realising the country’s NDCs and achieve Net Zero which is only possible with considerable reduction in greenhouse gas emissions especially from the energy sector via energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions.”
 
The launching project was held today at Tay Ninh city with the participation of all relevant stakeholders as well as targeted groups of the project including local authority (Tay Ninh People’s Committee, DOIT, etc.), industrial parks, businesses and international brands in the locality.