NGO’s Climate Change Working Group (CCWG) was established in February 2008. The network provides a forum for Vietnamese NGOs and international NGOs to actively participate in the climate change debate.
CCWG has been a Southern Voices partner since March 2011 and Oxfam is currently the host of CCWG.
CCWG’s work on climate change
CCWG plays a significant role in facilitating information- and resource-sharing among local and international NGOs engaged in climate change issues. The network strives to increase the resilience of the most vulnerable people in Vietnam by ensuring a better coordination of the work done by NGOs.
CCWG is engaged in advocacy and capacity building activities that promotes a sustainable development environmentally, economically and socially.
Advocacy and the Joint Principles for Adaptation
In 2016, CCWG developed a new and updated influencing strategy with support from the second phase of the Southern Voices on Adaptation program.
CCWG encourage the Vietnamese government to spend more resources on community-led initiatives as well as to build skills and capacities of communities, local authorities and agencies to properly cope with climate change.
CCWG’s main advocacy objectives are to ensure that:
- The Vietnamese government implements, and allocates funding to, initiatives of community-based adaptation in 22 provinces highly affected by climate change.
- The Vietnamese government ensures an appropriate balance of climate change response measures (and an increase in non-infrastructure measures).
CCWG has identified five relevant policies as entry points to fulfill its advocacy objectives:
1. Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD)’s Climate Change Action Plan (2016-2020)
2. Circular on climate change mainstreaming in Social Economic Development Plan
3. New Rural Development program
4. Sustainable Poverty reduction program
5. Green growth programs
Generally speaking the Joint Principles for Adaptation (JPA) has served as a guiding tool in CCWG’s advocacy planning process. The JPA has for example helped the network to identify gaps in existing policies and programs.
CCWG has hereafter selected two principles of focus: D and F. Both principles are clearly reflected in CCWG’s advocacy objectives.
Principle D | Local adaptation plans are developed through approaches that build the resilience of communities and ecosystems |
Principle F | There is appropriate investment in the building of skills and capacities, as well as in physical infrastructure |
Key achievements of advocacy work
The JPA has been presented to government agency partners such as Department of Meteorology, Hydrology and Climate Change (DMHCC), Climate Tech Centre and MARD. The opportunities to apply the JPA at national and provincial level are being explored.
CCWG has improved its cooperation with government, donors and other development actors and increased their awareness of community-based approaches to climate change as well as the vulnerability of ethnic minorities.
The capacity for policy advocacy has been increased among CCWG members through the establishment of an advocacy task force, expert meetings and workshops.