Kerry said he traveled along the Sai Gon River and visited Ben Tre, areas heavily affected by climate change such as sea water rise. “We are trying to implement measures to adapt to climate change and improve resilience. In the immediate time, it is necessary to develop infrastructure to adapt and maintain supply chains,” he said.

“I have been to Ben Tre where wind power plants have been built to provide renewable power. However, there is no transmission line. This means asynchronous investment,” he said. “There are many wind and solar power projects in Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan and Ben Tre, but they still cannot be fully exploited because of the lack of transmission lines."

He stressed that it is necessary to gradually reduce coal-fired thermal power and switch to clean power.

“I am not the only one who has been here to talk about this. President Biden has also put forward active programs and numerous scientists all over the world have affirmed that this is what we need to do to mitigate the negative impacts of climate change. When visiting Ben Tre and traveling along Sai Gon River, I could clearly see the risks and negative impacts that may come if we cannot quickly shift from using fossil fuel to clean power,” Kerry said.

Vietnam at the COP 26 meeting committed to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050. The US is making every effort to take steps to help Vietnam implement the energy transition and commitment.

“During meetings with Vietnamese leaders of the government and ministries, we will present ways we can support Vietnam. The first is financial support to utilize new technologies. The US will also help Vietnam mobilize international financial sources and implement international technology transfer to realize their commitments and speed up the energy transition process,” he said.

The price of clean power

Noting that Vietnam is developing wind and solar power projects while  electricity production costs are still high, Kerry said there should be more wind and solar power projects, which will help reduce production costs.

Thermal power is not cheap, and it increases the temperature on Earth, ocean acidification, and greenhouse gas emissions. Acid rain creates higher acidity in the ocean, destroys and whitens corals, and affects the living environment in rivers and reservoirs.

Kerry noted that wind and solar power is developing rapidly all over the world, adding that renewable energy sources will be cheaper in the future and Vietnam will benefit from this.

Answering a question about European countries restarting thermal power plants, Kerry said Europe has many wind power plants but it is now being affected by the Russia-Ukraine crisis. However, this is just a temporary short-term impact.

He emphasized the word temporary because the solution won’t last a long time. In European countries, such as Germany, 80 percent of power used at their aluminum, steel, cement and automobile manufacturing factories is renewable power. This means that in the future, the countries will not rely on fossil fuel. 

There will still be thermal power plants, but they will only account for a minimal proportion of total power plants and will serve provisionally if troubles occur with renewable power plants. 

Thermal power plants should not be considered long-term. There should be a time frame for energy transition and the plants using outdated technologies should not exist beyond that time frame.

This is an economic and energy revolution like the industrial revolution which took place in the past, he said. 

The US plans to prohibit the sale of internal combustion engine vehicles from 2035. 

Vietnam needs more wind and solar power projects and to quickly build transmission systems with reasonable capacity, encouraging the development of clean power. 

The US, Vietnam and other countries all need to take faster steps, support each other and agree on how to cooperate.

Transition can’t be done overnight

Kerry said humanity is facing a global climate crisis and everyone needs to change the way they use fuel.

“The energy transition will take several generations. We need to calculate based on the research of scientists, so it is necessary to quickly change the sources of materials and reduce emissions. These are the big items that need to be done immediately. Ford and General Motors are spending hundreds of billions of dollars to make electric vehicles. In Europe and the US, cars with internal combustion engines mostly have a shelf life of 10-12 years, and many countries are also planning to switch to electric vehicles. We will make every effort to reduce net emissions to zero by 2050,” Kerry said.

Kerry stressed that Vietnam needs to be transparent in legal and regulatory matters, and simplify procedures as many businesses are willing to develop projects here. Investors need to know the roadmap for the money they invest.

"Transparency, legality, regulation, accountability, and speeding up the decision-making process are needed,” he said.

He believes that when Vietnam has clean power, it will be able to attract more foreign investment. Some multinationals such as Amazon and Samsung have made global commitments on adapting to climate change, so they are seeking clean power. FDI will flow into markets with clean power supply and businesses need  government support to open up new energy sources.

Kerry told the local media that he hopes US President Joe Biden will pay a visit to Vietnam during his term as President.

Thai An