Breakout Group D: presentation by Thea Konstantinidis

1. Information on
effectiveness and
adequacy of
adaptation -
Snapshot Vietnam
Thea Konstantinidis,
Climate Change Working Group
(CCWG)
thea@srd.org.vn
OECD CCXG - Global Forum on
the Environment and Climate
Change, 15-16 March 2016, Paris

2. Outline
1. Brief overview status quo of climate
change policy in Vietnam
2. Information on adaptation and
adaptation effectiveness
3. 6 theses on adequacy and effectiveness
of adaptation and related information
needs
4. Additional questions for discussion

3. State of climate change
policy in Vietnam …
Strengths
 very extensive
policy landscape
regarding climate
change national
and sectoral
 2 NC and BUR
 INDC including
adaptation and a
technical report
Challenges
 Policy coherency
and coordination
 Implementation
gap
 Green growth and
climate change
strategy are not
integrated.
 Data quality,
availability and
accessibility
sets the backdrop for discussion.

4. Vietnam’s adaptation INDC at
a glance
 21 adaptation actions in 3 key areas and
5 indicators with timeline
 No figure reg. support needs for
adaptation (“dependent on national
resources and international support”)
 Losses from disaster in the past 30 years.
amount to 1.5 % of GDP.

5. Source: Vietnam Climate Change Public Expenditure Review -CPEIR (MPI,
Worldbank, UNDP 2015)
Adap-
tation
90%
Mitiga-
tion
2%
Both
8%
Distribution of climate relevant
spending of 5 line ministries
Infra-
structure
91%
Capacity
building
7%
Gover-
nance
2 %
Distribution of adaptation
expenditure

6. Top expenditures in key
climate policies
 National Climate Change Strategy (NCCS): Food
and water security
 Vietnam Green Growth Strategy (VGGS):
Development of sustainable infrastructure
 Support Program for Response to Climate Change
– (SPRCC): Coastal and riverbank protection

7. Most is not spent by the Ministry for
Environment but the by the Ministry of
Agriculture.
Ministry for
Agriculture and Rural
Development -MARD
Total national adaptation
spending (irrigation &
reservoirs)
82%
Total national mitigation
spending
65%
Total national spending
both adaptation and
mitigation
65%

8. What can we learn from the CPEIR:
 Majority of CC-response projects by line
ministries: Low or marginal relevance to
CC response
 Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
- MARD app. 50 %, has only indirect
adaptation or mitigation benefits.

9. Theses:
1. Thinking about how to achieve reporting on effectiveness and
adequacy cannot be separated from thinking about improving
adequacy and effectiveness of adaptation itself. It must be
seen not only as ensuring compliance under the UNFCC but as
an opportunity to address current challenges, shortcomings
and gaps on the national and subnational level.
2. Discussions on global stock-take requirements for adequacy
and effectiveness must promote needs-based approaches,
start with downstream information and improve its availability
and quality for informed decision-making nationally and sub-
nationally to ensure effectiveness along the policy cycle of
existing and new policies (evidence-based approaches,
vulnerability and needs assessment, M+E ).
3. A “balancing the burden with benefits” - approach will have to
rest on both generating multiple benefits and maximizing
synergies linked to a country-specific incentive structure e.g.
increased access to funding through better priorisation.

10. Theses: continued
4. Improving the process qualities including through e.g. broad
stakeholder involvement (NGOs and private sector ) is a low cost
option to make adaptation more effective. Including bottom-up
mechanisms alongside integrated top-down approaches is also
essential.
5. Building on what is there and using what is available - e.g. Joint
Principles for Adaptation – a set of good practices and standards
for effective and inclusive adaptation from civil society - can
accelerate action.
6. Information and guidance will have to flow both ways. Creating
both multi-stakeholder learning and exchange
mechanisms/platforms nationally and establishing exchange with
differentiated and multiple peer groups globally around shared
interests (regional, development status-related) creates feedback
mechanisms can help overcome current knowledge and
capacity gaps. `

11. How do we ensure that the momentum
that global stock-taking requirements on
adequacy and effectiveness creates helps
to
 move from wish-lists to informed decisions on
prioritized and feasible adaptation actions?
 contribute to and promote policy coherency and
institutional capacity?
 unlock multiple benefits?
 link the international better with the national and the
local level?
 create processes that involve relevant stakeholders
such as civil society, academia and private sector?
 ensure benefits and increased capacity for non-
party actors/subnational stakeholders – often the
implementers of adaptation actions on the ground?

12. Thank you very much.
Contact: Thea Konstantinidis,
thea@srd.org.vn / dorothea.konstantinidis@giz.de
Climate Change Working Group:
http://www.ngocentre.org.vn/ccwg