Vietnam is already experiencing and will continue to confront the serious consequences of climate change, underscoring the need for further action to safeguard Vietnam’s development gains. Not only highly populated urban areas and poor rural areas will be impacted; but key economic activities in agriculture, fisheries and other sectors, which represent important drivers of Vietnam’s job creation and poverty reduction, are also at risk. Vietnam’s rapid economic growth underpins development progress but is increasingly carbon intense, which if unmitigated puts the country on a path to become a significant emitter of greenhouse gases.

The report contributes to strengthen the initial phase of the implementation of Vietnam’s key climate change and green growth policies. It helps mainstream climate change response in the formulation of the five-year Socio-Economic Development Plan (SEDP) for 2016–2020, and the GoV’s state budget estimate (post-2015 climate change and green growth financing response). The review also enables the GoV to better align Vietnam’s goals and contributions with global targets and efforts, in support of Vietnam’s emerging role as an important player in regional and global discussions on climate change.