When the Vietnamese government decided to reduce coal use in its next energy program in 2016, it followed the advice of a rare source, one of the country’s most prominent environmentalist.
Nguy Thi Khanh voiced out what the government had to do. She said coal-fired power needs to be reduced by 30,000 MW. This equates to the capacity of all coal-fired power plants in Texas and Pennsylvania. The government met her more than half and agreed to a reduction of 20,000 MW.
It was a big victory for the country’s environmentalists. However, on Friday, 46-year-old Gui was convicted of tax evasion and sentenced to two years in prison, according to three people who knew the sentence. Her case sent a trembling horror through the environmental movement.
Orally self-respecting, Gui has produced a report documenting the risks that Vietnam, one of the world’s fastest growing economies, will continue to depend on coal. She traveled all over the country, using science and statistics to persuade the public and upset local civil servants.
She also organized campaigns and mobilized communities, especially among young people, to defend the environment. This is an activity that can be seen as a threat to the one-party system, which has long not tolerated dissent.
Many environmentalists say Gui’s indictment, known as Khan, and other activists have questioned Vietnam’s commitment to the United Nations Climate Change Summit in Glasgow last year. He vowed to phase out coal consumption by 2040. It was an important development. Vietnam, a country with a population of 99 million, was the ninth largest coal consumer in the world.
“That doesn’t make sense to us,” said Michael Sutton, Managing Director of the Goldman Environmental Foundation, who wrote and called on the Vietnamese ambassador to Washington. Gui’s release.
“She did everything to help Vietnam achieve own goals and make the country look good on the international stage,” he added. “We are concerned about what this is saying for the future and success of Vietnam’s expressed energy ambitions.”
Others saw the incident as a reflection of anxious tendencies.
“This is a very strong signal that the Communist Party will go further to dominate civil society,” said Trinh Huu Long, co-director of the Communist Party. Vietnam Legal Initiative, Based in Taiwan. “And they don’t tolerate even the slightest criticism.”
Before Goo advocated, Vietnam had very little renewable energy. However, the growing awareness of medical costs from burning fossil fuels has led the government to adopt solar power. Many local governments have provided tax exemptions and attractive tariffs to encourage investment. done. Vietnam has become the country with the largest installed capacity of solar and wind power in Southeast Asia..
However, many officials opposed renewable energy. In some proposals, the government messed up its policy and initially stated that it wanted to continue its reliance on coal. There was concern that pulling the country away from coal could hurt the economy and renewable energy could be an expensive and unreliable way to power the country.
In many respects, Gui’s treatment reveals a conflicting approach to the Vietnamese government’s environmental protection and conflicts between various ministries. In the face of growing public anger over air pollution and chemical spills, the government has allowed environmental advocacy groups and allowed limited protests.
However, criticism from officials has long allowed developed countries to pump large amounts of greenhouse gases while Vietnam is under pressure to find cleaner ways to develop its manufacturing industry. Also faced.
Le Hong Hiep, Senior Fellow of the Vietnam Studies Program at the ISEAS-Yusofui Shak Institute in Singapore, said: “I think that may be the main reason for her arrest.”
This tension occurred in Vietnam just two weeks before last year’s UN summit.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade had just proposed doubling the capacity of coal-fired power generation, according to the draft plan. Guy urged the public to circulate letters to the Prime Minister signed by several environmental groups, warning that the policy could “endanger Vietnam’s isolation in the international community.”
“The dark times come not because of lack of sunlight, but because of lack of leadership,” Guy wrote in a Facebook post. “We still believe and look forward to the Prime Minister and senior leaders’ determination to break through climate change.”
They did. Almost immediately after the summit, The United States, United Kingdom, European Union and Japan have begun discussions on the potential for energy trading with Vietnam. March, US Special Envoy for Climate Change John Kerry Visits VietnamWe promise to increase our involvement in climate and clean energy. In May, a group of seven major economies Give Vietnam financial and technical support To help the country move from coal-fired to renewable energy.
Jake Schmidt, senior strategic director for international climate at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said he was “not confident” now that Vietnam has been able to achieve an energy shift through crackdowns.
Guy knew that her activity targeted her. Julien Vincent, executive director of Market Forces, an Australian-based group focused on institutions funding environmental destruction projects, said Nguy said her office was attacked by police officers. “Police and government agencies are never too far away,” he said. To that place. “
“They are always following them,” Vincent said. “She says it was part of her daily life.”
Guy’s arrest confused her friends because she stood out with a non-confrontational approach. She said she praised Greta Thunberg, but she admitted that the style of climate change activity of Swedish teenagers is unacceptable in Vietnam. She said one of her main motivations was a mother with three children aged 20, 15, and 10.
Coal was a problem close to Goo’s heart. Born and raised in a rural area of northern Vietnam, Gui’s family lived near a coal-fired power plant. She remembered the dust and gray thorns caused by the plants.
At that time, Vietnam was married to coal. In 2011, the government announced plans to add about 75 gigawatts of new coal by 2030. At that time, Vietnam had only 4 gigawatts of coal, and the new goal of total coal capacity for Germany and Poland was to orbit the country to have the world’s fourth largest coal-fired power plant after China, the United States and India. Put it on.
That year, Nguy helped establish the Green Innovation and Development Center (GreenID), a group aimed at building renewable energy pathways in Vietnam. A year later, she founded the Vietnam Sustainable Energy Alliance, which now consists of 12 organizations.
After Guy won the Goldman Award in 2018, the People’s Army newspaperThe Ministry of Defense of Vietnam called her an “Asia’s environmental hero” for helping the nation “make policies for sustainable development.”
The enthusiasm did not last long. In February, Hanoi police arrested her.
Gui, who is currently in a detention center in Hanoi, is healthy and continues to practice meditation, according to someone who knows her situation.
Prior to the sentence, she said she wanted the shortest possible imprisonment, sources said. Her goal is to get back to her job soon.
Richard C. Paddock Report that contributed.