Regional cooperation key to renewable energy in Asia: experts

Vietnam's efforts acclaimed

Hideki Minamikawa, president of the Japan Environmental Sanitation Center, and former Vice-Minister of the Environment, highlighted Vietnam's commitments to achieve zero emissions by 2050, shared experience from Japan and stressed the cooperation between the two countries in renewable energy.

"The Vietnamese Government's efforts to address climate change have received international acclaim," he said.

To achieve virtually zero emissions by 2050, Minamikawa said, Vietnam will take strong measures to reduce emissions by taking advantage of its strengths in the renewable energy sector.

Sharing the Japanese approach to clean energy, Minamikawa said Japan's commitment to renewable energy began in 1974, triggered by the first oil crisis that occurred the previous year.

The country has had a number of policies to increase energy from clean sources including those from solar, wind, hydrogen and biomass.

However, Japan's current renewable energy development is not sufficient and there are challenges with regard to the power grid.

He said the biggest bottleneck is the inadequate deployment of transmission lines from areas with large amounts of renewable energy generation potential to large consumption areas, and the costs are borne by the power producers, not the power companies.

Still, renewable energy is the backbone of power generation in Japan, he said, noting that it is expected to provide up to 38 percent of Japan's total power generation in 2030.

He noted that the Japanese government is supporting the development of renewable energy overseas as a measure to combat global warming.

Japan has been promoting environmental cooperation in Vietnam, including cooperation in the development of renewable energy, through a memorandum of understanding signed in 2013.

He recalled that in 2020 the two countries agreed to further cooperate in promoting a decarbonisation transition and in combating plastic marine pollution.

"In this context, the development of renewable energy is the most important subject, and I look forward to its further enhancement," he said.