Vietnam, Netherlands seek nature-based measures for sustainable development

At the event, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Le Cong Thanh and Dutch Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management Mark Harbers held that both nations have similar natural environments and been hard hit by climate change, with Vietnam's Mekong Delta region experiencing land erosion, saline intrusion and sand depletion, and 25% of the Netherlands' areas below the sea level.

According to Thanh, Vietnam has carried out climate mitigation measures over the past 15 years while nature-based solutions have been undertaken in the recent 10 years.

The Netherlands, who found out the nature-based development models, have run a lot of projects in Vietnam, helping the country handle challenges in food security, water resources security, natural disasters' risks, and greenhouse gas emissions reduction, he said, adding Vietnam has strengthened resilience and adaptive capacity in several areas, including forest preservation, restoration of the natural ecosystem, and development of the low-carbon agriculture.

Dutch experts said that investing in nature-based measures is for development that benefits biodiversity and natural ecosystem, stressing as one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, Vietnam has favourable conditions to develop nature-based economic sectors.

However, the measures must be suitable to the country's environment, climate, soil, and financial capacity of enterprises and local people, they added.

Also present at the workshop, specialists from the World Bank and Asia Development Bank affirmed to continue supporting and accompanying the Vietnamese Government in developing nature-based solutions towards realising the sustainable development goals.

(Source: VNA)