Dear BritCham Vietnnam members,

Warm greetings from BritCham Vietnam. 

Plese note a message from HMA Gareth Ward regarding COP26.  This is an in-person and online invite for April 8th 4pm to join this discussion and a launch of the BritCham COP26/sustainability Working Group. Please let me know if you are interested within Wednesday - 7th April. Thank you.

In November 2021, the UK has the privilege of hosting the COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow. This is a top priority for the UK government, both for domestic policy and overseas engagement. We are working hard to engage governments and other key global players to deliver strong climate action between now and November. 

The challenge is clear. Without urgent action, we will not keep climate change to 1.5C or even 2C. The International Energy Agency has assessed that to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, the global transition to clean power needs to progress six times faster than at present. Here in Vietnam, we are working closely with the government to support a green and clean recovery from COVID, with a particular focus on energy transition.

Businesses have a critical role to play in this process. Strong corporate advocacy will be essential in helping to impress the need for ambitious climate policy from governments. Many UK companies are leading the way through zero carbon strategies and ambitious sustainability agendas. We hope that in the months ahead we can help to encourage more companies to commit to net zero targets, and ideally to joining the global Race to Zero campaign. 

I’d like to invite you to a discussion on how the UK government and business community can work together on this important agenda. I’d like to share with you the UK Government’s plans in the build-up to the climate summit. And we’ll hear from businesses about their sustainability goals and strategies. And I’d like to hear your thoughts and questions about how we can work together on this agenda here in Vietnam in these critical few months before COP.

Panellists for this discussion (tentative):

• Gareth Ward – Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Vietnam 
• David McNaught – British Embassy 
• Nitin Kapoor – AztraZeneca Vietnam 
• Dominic Scriven – Dragon Capital Vietnam  
• Mark Shorrock – ShireOak International Denzel Eades – Pioneer International Consulting