The “Green One UN House”, the first green UN building in the world, was inaugurated in Hanoi on May 23, showing Vietnam’s strong commitment to the work of the United Nations.
Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh affirmed that the house has been built on the solid foundation of nearly four-decade cooperation between Vietnam and the UN. It also constitutes Vietnam’s commitment to the reform of the UN development system, Minh said, adding that Vietnam pledges to strengthen the coordination, coherence, and effectiveness of the system.
He continued to say that the house’s green features reflect Vietnam’s determination to respond to climate change and reduce impacts of daily activities on the environment.
With this house and many other measures to implement the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, Vietnam is actively joining hands with the international community for global action in this momentous year of 2015, he added.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stated that Vietnam proved to be one of the pioneers in the reform of the UN and in building the “Green One UN House”, the common house for all UN offices in the country.
According to UN Resident Coordinator in Vietnam Pratibha Mehta, with building materials and high-standard thermal insulation, the house will help reduce 25 percent of energy demands.
The house was rebuilt from an old building in 2013, with a total investment of over 9 million USD funded by Norway, Spain, Switzerland, the UK, Finland, Australia, New Zealand and Saudi Arabia.
After the inaugural ceremony, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had a meeting with the media, during which he told reporters that climate change adaptation and actions to boost human rights in Vietnam are among discussions during his second visit to Vietnam.
