Vietnam and 13 partners signed a clean economy agreement
In the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), 14 partners, including Vietnam, have just signed a clean economy agreement, focusing on collaborative efforts to transition to clean energy and combat climate change. IPEF’s 14 partners currently account for about 40% of global GDP and 28% of global trade in goods and services.
The IPEF Ministerial Conference and the Clean Economy Investment Forum were held on June 5 and 6 in Singapore. Within the framework of the conference, on June 6, 14 IPEF partners including Australia, Brunei, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, the US and Vietnam signed an agreement on clean economic to establish 8 cooperation programs. Notably, among these, there are 3 new cooperation programs, including cooperation on small nuclear reactors (SMR). SMR is an advanced nuclear reactor with a lower electricity production capacity than traditional nuclear reactors. According to Singapore’s Ministry of Industry and Trade, the SMR partnership program aims to support partners who want to learn more about SMR and have the ability to deploy this technology in their countries according to the highest standards of safety, security and protective measures. For IPEF members wanting to implement SMR domestically, the partnership program will serve as a dialogue platform, in which, members will be supported in developing the SMR supply chain as well as the infrastructure and workforce necessary to safely deploy SMR.
Two other new collaborative programs involve greenhouse gas emission intensity inventories and urban e-waste mining. Accordingly, IPEF partners will share information on existing standards, reporting systems and emission inventory methods, and collaborate to build a more sustainable e-waste management system. The remaining five cooperation programs of the clean economy agreement relate to clean hydrogen fuels, carbon markets, clean electricity, just energy transition and sustainable aviation fuels.
Speaking at the Clean Economy Investment Forum, Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said that developing clean energy infrastructure will help support the transition to a clean economy. He announced that Singapore, along with the US and Vietnam, have established a working group to increase investment in renewable energy projects in the region, as well as research and develop a cooperation framework for building submarine cables in the region to facilitate cross-border electricity trade. At the forum, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said that a coalition including investors BlackRock, Rockefeller Foundation, GIC and Temasek committed to investing 25 billion USD in sustainable infrastructure projects in emerging markets of the Indo-Pacific region.
Clean economy is one of IPEF’s four pillars, the remaining three pillars are trade, supply chain and fair economy. Also on June 6, 14 IPEF partners signed a fair economic agreement and the IPEF master agreement. Fair economic agreement aimed at fighting corruption and improving tax administration. Meanwhile, the overall IPEF agreement will establish an IPEF Council, tasked with considering issues affecting the implementation of agreements related to the four pillars of IPEF.
