Southeast Asian and international organizations highlighted the human rights issues committed against climate defenders in Vietnam and called for financiers to stop supporting gas expansion in the Mekong Delta.
In an event co-hosted by the Vietnam Climate Defenders Coalition and 350.org during the 2024 New York Climate Week, activists emphasized that Vietnam’s energy policy happened during a time of crackdowns against Vietnamese climate and environmental defenders.
“Vietnam’s Power Development Plan 8 (PDP8) is a reflection of the silenced voice of civil society, with a large amount of gas in the pipeline up to 2030. And most of these gas projects are actually located in the Mekong delta. So this is not just an issue of human rights, but it’s also an issue of livelihood, an issue of biodiversity, and an issue of climate.”, said Gerry Arances from the Center of Energy, Ecology and Development (CEED), an environmental think tank based in the Philippines.
According to a 2023 report by CEED, Vietnam leads Southeast Asia in planned gas capacity at 44.8 GW, and in planned liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal capacity at 36 million tonnes per annum. Of the planned gas capacity indicated in PDP8, 18.17 GW or 44% of total capacity will be centered around the Mekong delta. The Mekong River is considered to be the world’s most productive river, producing 25% of the world’s inland catch and providing a vital food source for Southeast Asian countries.
”The case of Vietnam’s [pattern of oppression of climate defenders] is not only concerning for Vietnam. It is concerning for the case of just transitions as a whole, because while Vietnam may look like an exception, it is just an extreme case, and something that shows a precedent for future just transitions,” said Guneet Kaur, coordinator of the Vietnam Climate Defenders Coalition.
In its report published in June 2024, environmental and human rights organization International Rivers highlighted issues in Vietnam’s energy policy that could be detrimental to the Vietnamese people, including a debt-heavy financing scheme under the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) with loans offered at market rates, reliance on imported LNG, and net-zero plans dependent on untested technologies such as ammonia and hydrogen.
“In the case of Vietnam, we can put pressure on the governments who are financing [the JETP] to stop their financing until standards are implemented, until we see that the human rights of their climate activists are respected and protected,” said Javier Garate, US Policy Advisor from international NGO Global Witness.