The World Bank on November 8 approved a credit of US$70 million for the second Vietnam Climate Change Development Policy Operation.The credit provides parallel financing under a multi-donor budget support program for the Government’s Support Program to Respond to Climate Change, the bank said in its press release. Accordingly, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the French Development Agency (AfD) will jointly provide roughly US$145 million. The Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) will join with a first AUD8 million, and Korea Eximbank with US$30 million, bringing total support to about US$253 million in the context of the proposed operation.
This operation includes five policy actions, under the three thematic pillars of climate change adaptation, mitigation and cross-cutting issues. They focus on the water sector, energy sector, climate change integration into development planning and a more conducive environment for climate financing.In particular, this policy operation has supported the development of a new Law on Water Resources, the adoption of regulations establishing the qualification and certification requirements for energy auditors and managers. It also helped with the establishment of a National Climate Change Strategy, the readiness for a national coordination platform for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation, and an institutional mechanism to promote climate – response financing sources.The credit comes from the International Development Association, the WB’s concessional lending resource for low income countries. This credit has a 25-year maturity with a 5-year grace period.
(VOV)
