Conference on the study in “Future employment and skills needed in Vietnam’s power sector

To conclude, the conference emphasized the importance of a transition toward renewable energy to job creation in Vietnam’s power sector in the future as well as the need for further multidisciplinary efforts from a wide range of stakeholders.

The project “Mobilizing the Cobenefits of Climate Change Mitigation – COBENEFITS” of the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) has now completed its study in “Future employment and skills needed in Vietnam’s power sector” with many new and significant findings. With a view to presenting the research findings and discussing the use of these findings in energy/climate programs (NDC, SDG, PDP...) in Vietnam, IASS and GreenID together organized a council meeting in the morning of May 17th, 2019 at Thang Long Opera Hotel, 1C Tong Dan, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi.

Overview of conference

The conference took place with the participation of 25 representatives from government agencies, non-profit organizations, institutes, universities, and businesses. The conference also featured a guest speaker from the Institute of Labor Science and Social Affairs, Ms. Nguyen Hoang Nguyen, who delivered briefly key findings from “COBENEFITS assessment of the future development of employment in the power sector, and skills and education needed in Vietnam". As moderators of the conference, Dr. Sebastian Helgenberger- Project Director Benefits - IASS Potsdam and Ms. Nguy Thi Khanh – Executive Director of GreenID Vietnam led the discussions on connection of the study’s results to energy/climate programs (NDC, SDG, PDP...) in Vietnam.

In the opening speech, Dr. Helgenberger and Ms. Nguy Thi Khanh successively emphasize the vital role of renewable energy in the effort to mitigate negative impacts of climate change and its compelling benefits in social-economic development. Ms. Nguyen continued with a presentation on the research “Future employment and skills needed in Vietnam’s power sector” which brought many interesting insights into the employment prospects of four different power generation scenarios. “Renewable energy is the right answer for the future when replacing coal with solar either PV or wind creates at least three more jobs per average MW installed in the country.” – Ms. Nguyen emphasized. Dr. Sebastian Helgenberger strengthened this statement by showing a similar research undertaken in South Africa which involved different power scenarios yet generated quite similar results as to how higher shares of renewable energy are equivalent to higher job creation.

During the next part of the conference, participants were asked to take part in a small activity where they proposed an institution and a relevant policy that should take into account the results of the assessment study presented. This activity prompted many interesting and novel ideas, most prominent of which indicated the need for a formal educational and training program in the field of renewable energy.

To conclude, the conference emphasized the importance of a transition toward renewable energy to job creation in Vietnam’s power sector in the future as well as the need for further multidisciplinary efforts from a wide range of stakeholders. Regarding the next activities within the COBENEFITS project, a range of round-table discussions on various topics such as employment in the power sector, energy access in rural areas, and impacts on health and air quality of renewable energy will be organized in June, along with the big COBENEFITS conference in Berlin on October 16^th, 2019.