Kerry, who spoke after meeting with Vietnam's prime minister, praised the nation for getting out in front of climate change, but also chided it for dialing up its use of coal. The tropical country is one of the APEC members that could be hit hardest if global temperatures and sea levels rise.
America's top envoy used his last speech in Asia to underline a range of environmental cooperation—from a food security project that continues APEC-begun efforts to the cleanup of dioxin and bombs that the U.S. scattered on Vietnam when Kerry was a naval officer. The next challenge, he said, will be sustainable development.
“Now, the true measure of our partnership is not just whether our economies grow. It is also how they grow,” he said of Vietnam-U.S. ties on Jan. 13. “I never thought, when I was patrolling the Mekong nearly 50 years ago, that I would one day be involved in a plan to try to help save the river.”
He spoke at the Ho Chi Minh University of Technology and Education one day before jetting down to the nearby Mekong Delta, which is facing a barrage of pollution, floods, saltwater intrusion, and erosion. In the 1960s, Kerry navigated these waterways by swift boat to root out Viet Cong guerillas; last weekend he came as a friend, discussing with Vietnamese how to cope with strains on the delta, which Hanoi says is one of three in the world most threatened by climate change. The two others are the Nile and the Ganges.
MIT Food Research
In addition to foreign countries damming the Mekong upstream, Vietnam fears climate change will devastate its farmers, who supply much of the world's rice, coffee, seafood and fruit. Kerry's visit included the announcement that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will partner with the delta's Can Tho University to test efficient ways of growing crops that withstand volatility in the climate. The veteran-turned-critic of the Vietnam War said this “cutting-edge” innovation can become a global standard.
“Together with Vietnam, we hope to showcase this experimental technology to the rest of the region, to the rest of the world, and eventually we'd like to make it available for the economies of developing countries all around the world,” Kerry said.
The research folds into a broader project APEC started in 2016 to achieve food security in the midst of climate change. The 21-member Pacific trade bloc said in December this is one of four pillars Vietnam will reinforce as APEC chair in 2017; the three others are sustainable growth, regional connectivity and small businesses.
‘Dirtiest Fuel’
Vietnam's anxiety about climate change leaves green activists all the more perplexed at its appetite for coal. The $200 billion economy now depends on thermal energy for about one-third of its electricity, which will rise to one-half in 2025. Kerry called coal “the dirtiest fuel in the world,” saying the carbon emissions hurt Vietnam's efforts to battle global warming
“When some people look at the price of coal, they say, ‘Hey, it's cheaper. I got to do it, because my economy needs it.’ No, no, no, no—that's wrong, my friends,” he said. “It's not cheaper, not when you consider the damage to the environment.”
He urged the Southeast Asian country to focus on wind power, nuclear energy, biomass and natural gas.
To contact the reporter on this story: Lien Hoang in Ho Chi Minh City at correspondents@bna.com
