Climate change mitigation strategies in agriculture, forestry and other land use sectors in Vietnam

Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sectors account for 53 % of the domestic greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in Vietnam in 2000. However, due to political focus on adaptation, Vietnamese government has not formulated particular policy on mitigation in the sectors. This study aims to identify and assess mitigation potential in AFOLU sectors in Vietnam up to 2030 using AFOLU Bottom-up model. Therefore, the results can help government towards building mitigation strategies in the country. The methodology involves: (1) development of future assumptions of crops harvested areas, livestock population and area of land use and land use change and (2) identification of mitigation countermeasures with high potential and assessment of their cost-effectiveness. In 2030, 11 MtCO<Subscript>2</Subscript>eq/year of emission can be reduced by no-regret countermeasures which take zero or negative cost. In the case of full application of countermeasures, 48 MtCO<Subscript>2</Subscript>eq/year can be reduced compared to the baseline emission level. Mitigation countermeasures, which have great contribution for GHG reduction in Vietnam, are midseason drainage in rice paddy (7 MtCO<Subscript>2</Subscript>eq/year), off-season incorporation of rice straw (3 MtCO<Subscript>2</Subscript>eq/year) and conservation of existing protection forests (17 MtCO<Subscript>2</Subscript>eq/year). Based on our findings, a package of mitigation countermeasures at 10 USD/tCO<Subscript>2</Subscript>eq is expected to have the most economic efficiency and high mitigation for GHG mitigation in AFOLU sectors in Vietnam. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014