Strengthening parliamentary coordination to realize SDGs

The seminar will discuss responses to climate change and present a toolkit to help Parliaments assess their performance in achieving SDGs. Within the framework of the event, delegates on Thursday visited the Cau Dan Xay residential area and the Can Gio mangrove forest in Can Gio district, HCM City, which are being seriously threatened by rising sea levels. They also participated in a tree planting festival in Can Gio.

Parliaments promote cooperation in realizing SDGs

At the seminar, Speaker of Myanmar’s House of Nationalities Mahn Win Khaing Than highlighted legislators’ role in realizing SDGs and promoting development policies. National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan said the Vietnamese National Assembly had reached consensus with the IPU on the agenda of the seminar. She said Vietnam has developed a National Action Program to realize Agenda 2030 which will serve as a legal foundation for Vietnam to fulfill its international commitment and contribute to global efforts to achieve sustainable growth. Vietnam’s National Action Plan makes people the focus, the masters, and the main resource of sustainable development. Vietnam has fine-tuned its legislation to provide an adequate legal framework for realizing SDGs.  Vietnamese Ministries, sectors, and localities have worked out their own action programs and integrated SDGs into their socio-economic development plans until 2020.

More resolute actions for environmental protection

Seminar delegates agreed that climate change is negatively impacting people’s lives and is likely to lead to a 5-10% reduction in global GDP. The Asia Pacific region, one of the regions most affected by climate change, have seen severe typhoons and unusual weather patterns affecting millions of people. Climate change requires countries to stand united and work together to change their production methods and lifestyles to reduce negative impacts. Ms. Anna Schreyoegg, Policy and Climate Change Impact Mitigation Consultant of the German Development Cooperation Organization (GIZ), urged signatory countries of the Paris Agreement to focus on realizing the goal of holding global warming to 2 degrees Celsius and on developing a national adaptation plan and a standard framework of climate change adaptation and mitigation. Mr. Pham Xuan Dung, Director of Vietnam’s Committee of Science, Technology and the Environment, said Vietnam has responded to international programs on climate changes by fine-tuning its laws concerning climate change response, clean energy, and green agricultural production. Namosimalua Veniana, Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Fiji, urged other parliamentarians to take more resolute actions and encourage the public to respond to climate change. She asked for stronger cooperation between Asia-Pacific countries and stressed the importance of allocating more resources for climate change response.