Doha, Qatar - At the Doha Climate Change Conference (COP18), the Government of Norway and the MPTF Office, signed an agreement to fund the UN-REDD Viet Nam Phase II Programme. The agreement was signed by Mr. Per Øystein Vatne, Chargé d’Affaires, Norwegian Embassy to Qatar, and Mr. Bisrat Aklilu, Executive Coordinator, MPTF Office, in the presence of H.E. Dr. Cao Duc Phat, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) of Viet Nam, H.E Bård Vegar Solhjell, Norway’s Minister of the Environment, H.E. Mr. Le Hong Phan, Ambassador of Viet Nam in Qatar, and Ms. Mette Loyche Wilkie, interim Head of the UN-REDD Secretariat. Read more...

Doha, Qatar--At the Doha Climate Change Conference (COP18), the Government of Norway and the MPTF Office, in its capacity as the Administrative Agent of the UN-REDD Programme Fund, signed an agreement to fund the UN-REDD Viet Nam Phase II Programme. The agreement was signed by Mr. Per Øystein Vatne, Chargé d’Affaires, Norwegian Embassy to Qatar, and Mr. Bisrat Aklilu, Executive Coordinator, MPTF Office, in the presence of H.E. Dr. Cao Duc Phat, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) of Viet Nam, H.E Bård Vegar Solhjell, Norway’s Minister of the Environment, H.E. Mr. Le Hong Phan, Ambassador of Viet Nam in Qatar, and Ms. Mette Loyche Wilkie, interim Head of the UN-REDD Secretariat.

Prior to the Agreement signature, the Minister of MARD of Viet Nam and Norway’s Minister of the Environment signed a broad joint declaration on REDD+ cooperation, recognizing Viet Nam's plan for a 20 per cent reduction in emissions from the agriculture and rural development sector by 2020, which includes forestry. The declaration also highlights Viet Nam's plans to further develop policies and measures that address the drivers of deforestation, and increase overall forest cover to 45 per cent by 2020.

Together with the Government of Viet Nam, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) have developed the UN-REDD Viet Nam Phase II MPTF. Its objective is to enhance Viet Nam’s ability to benefit from future results-based payments for REDD+ and undertake transformational changes in the forestry sector.

More details on the UN-REDD Viet Nam Phase II MPTF can be found on http://mptf.undp.org/factsheet/fund/VNM00