Vietnam is building its own 2050 Calculator, an open-source tool, which will allow anyone with an internet connection to explore how Vietnam can pursue low carbon growth over the coming decades whilst providing enough energy to meet the county’s needs. 2050 Calculator was developed by the Department of Energy and Climate Change to model the UK. China and India have already tailored their own models with supports from the UK.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOIT) and cross-sector experts in Vietnam will work closely with the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) over the coming year and a version of the Vietnam 2050 Calculator is planned to be completed in November 2014. DECC is providing nearly £138,000 from its International Climate Fund (ICF) to support MOIT as well as training and support throughout the project. The goal is to facilitate a discussion across Vietnam on the low carbon development options available, and to use the results of this work to inform the decisions of policy makers.

Commenting on this UK financial and technical support, the British Ambassador to Hanoi, Dr Antony Stokes, said: “The 2050 Calculator has won many awards in the UK for its ability to engage policy makers and the public around our challenge to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. We’re delighted to be able to share this work with the Vietnamese government using UK funds to promote low carbon growth.”

Nguyen Van Thanh, Deputy Director General, Industrial Safety Techniques and Environment Agency, MOIT said: “The Industrial Safety Techniques and Environment Agency, MOIT will be the focal point for building the Vietnam 2050 Calculator. But this is going to be a collaborative process with teams across government and stakeholders to make sure we include all possible options available to the country. We look forward to presenting an open source version of the Vietnam 2050 Calculator in 2014, and hope it will make a significant contribution our national debate on green growth and climate change response.”

At the present, the project has been finished the kick-off phase, then process the model and consultation phase until the end of October 2014. The project will be ended with two launching in Hanoi and Hochiminh city on January 2015.