Nine wealthy, developed nations will help Vietnam accelerate its transition from coal to renewable energy under a $15.5 billion agreement announced Wednesday.
The Just Energy Transition Partnership deal between the G7 nations, Norway, and Denmark follows a similar deal with Indonesia reached during COP27. The funding, mostly in the form of loans from both public and private sources, seeks to help Vietnam peak its greenhouse gas pollution in 2030 instead of 2035.
U.S. climate envoy John Kerry, a veteran of the U.S. war in Vietnam, had made Vietnam a focus of his climate work for the Biden administration. Kerry took repeated trips there to urge Vietnamese leaders to call off pending coal-fired power projects and to team up with wealthier nations on cleaner energy instead.
U.S. President Joe Biden said the deal would help Vietnam “deliver long-term energy security,” create opportunities for the country’s population and advance “the fight against the global climate crisis.”