Speaking at the handover ceremony in Hanoi, Ha said during the past four years, the British diplomat has become a close friend of Vietnam as well as the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE).
According to the minister, Ward has always accompanied and actively supported Vietnam in protecting the environment and responding to climate change, especially promoting cooperation and attracting investment for sustainable development and climate change adaptation programmes in the Southeast Asian country such as a low carbon energy programme for ASEAN, a project to develop Calculator Tool 2050 for Vietnam, Vietnam National Plastic Action Partnership, and a project to plant 1,000 mangroves to prevent erosion, among others.
Ha highly appreciated the support and close cooperation of Ward and the British Embassy with Vietnam in general and the MoNRE in particular in joining and implementing the results of the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), saying that Ward has acted as a bridge conveying Vietnam's messages and priorities to partners from the UK.
He expressed expressed his hope that the British diplomat will continue to connect and prompt international partners to support Vietnam in implementing its commitments at COP26, especially in negotiating and establishing the Just Energy Transition Partnership with countries of the Group of Seven (G7), as well as in programmes related to environmental protection, climate change response and sustainable development in the coming time.
For his part, Ward highlighted the close coordination between the British Embassy and the MoNRE towards the common goals in the field of natural resources and environment, especially after the success of COP26 where Vietnam showed its strong commitments in achieving net zero emissions by 2050.
The embassy always supports and works closely with the Vietnamese Government and the MoNRE in participating and implementing the results of COP26 as well as environmental issues in general, he affirmed.
