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An international pressure group is calling on governments and financial institutions to reconsider funding a plan to help Vietnam transition from fossil fuels to clean energy while it jails climate activists.
The Just Energy Transition Partnership, or JETP, was unveiled two years ago by Vietnam and the International Partners Group, comprising the United States, European Union, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Norway, Denmark, Japan and Canada.
The partners committed to provide US$15.5 billion in loans, along with technical assistance to support the elimination of fossil fuels. Under the plan, Vietnam has obtained $2.75 billion so far in concessional loans from international financial institutions, according to the Coalition for Human Rights in Development, a grouping of more than 100 non-governmental organizations from over 50 countries.
But Vietnam has also cracked down on environmental activists, as it does on almost anyone who questions the authority of the ruling Communist Party, invariably for spurious reasons, government critics say.
“The Vietnamese government has been criminalizing environmental and climate leaders on false charges,” the rights coalition said in a report released last month and posted on social media platform X on Dec. 16.
“Although the resulting Just Energy Transition Partnership agreement includes references to the importance of holding consultations and ensuring broad social consensus, the authorities have targeted climate and environmental leaders who were conducting legitimate policy and advocacy work around the just transition, and the need to phase out coal and scale-up renewable energy alternatives,” the group said.
It cited environmentalists Dang Dinh Bach, Nguy Thi Khanh, Hoang Thi Minh Hong, Mai Phan Loi and Bach Hung Duong who were convicted of “tax evasion” and sentenced to terms of as much as five years in prison.
It also mentioned Ngo Thi To Nhien, who was sentenced to three years and six months in prison for “appropriating documents.” Nhien was executive director of the Vietnam Initiative for Energy Transition Social Enterprise, which worked with Vietnamese authorities, foreign governments and corporations to try to reform the energy sector and accelerate its transition to carbon neutrality.
The JETP says that in order for a transition to clean energy to be just and equitable “regular consultation is required, including with media, NGOs and other stakeholders to ensure broad social consensus.”
The Coalition for Human Rights in Development argues that Hanoi’s imprisonment of activists sends a different message.
“The criminalization of these six environmental and climate leaders, along with broader civic space restrictions, indicate that it is not safe for local human rights defenders and community members to meaningfully participate, seek information, or raise concerns about just energy transition plans,” it said.
Radio Free Asia emailed Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs asking for comment on the statement but did not receive a response by time of publication.
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The 2023 Goldman Environmental Prize laureate Diane Wilson said she agreed that international financiers needed to think again about providing funds to Vietnam.
“As a grassroots environmental activist in the United States and a fourth-generation fisherman in the Gulf of Texas, I support the coalition in urging international partners and donors to reconsider their plans to support the communist regime in its clean energy transition,” Wilson said.
Thuc Quyen, a German-Vietnamese activist, said the Vietnamese government should improve its human rights record, protect the environment, and fight corruption in order to receive international attention and assistance.
“Vietnam needs to release Dang Dinh Bach and other environmental activists, and establish minimum standards that protect civil space, protect fundamental human rights and transparency, and respect independent oversight,” she told RFA.
Translated by RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Mike Firn.