A Comprehensive Policy Framework

The agricultural sector is facing urgent demands to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as it accounts for nearly one-third of the country’s total emissions, with methane from rice cultivation and livestock production making up a large share. Since the Net Zero commitment at COP26, a relatively comprehensive system of regulatory documents has been developed, laying the foundation for a transition to low-emission production models during the 2025–2030 period.

The first pillar is the National Climate Change Strategy toward 2050. This document identifies agriculture and forestry as one of the five key sectors requiring emissions reductions, while calling on ministries and sectors to develop transition roadmaps tailored to major emission sources such as rice, livestock, fisheries, fertilizers, and land management. The strategy also sets a target to enhance carbon sequestration in forest ecosystems, viewing this as a critical pillar to offset emissions from hard-to-abate sectors.

The second foundation is the updated 2022 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). The NDC emphasizes the goal of reducing methane emissions by 30%—a gas with more than 28 times the warming potential of CO₂—primarily from two main sources: rice paddies and livestock. Key measures include alternate wetting and drying (AWD) irrigation, livestock waste treatment, increased use of organic inputs, reduced chemical fertilizers, and control of crop residue burning.

At the spatial planning level, the National Master Plan for the 2021–2030 period, with a vision to 2050, incorporates climate adaptation and emissions reduction into its objectives. The plan designates key agricultural production regions, prioritizing the Mekong Delta for high-quality, low-emission rice; the Central Highlands for industrial crops under sustainable standards; and the Central and Northwest regions for forestry, carbon storage, and forest-based economies. It also calls for modernization of irrigation systems to reduce losses, cut energy use, and limit indirect emissions.

Multiple Sectors Contributing to Emissions Reduction

Sectoral action plans are also being finalized. The One Million Hectares of High-Quality, Low-Emission Rice in the Mekong Delta project is the program with the greatest impact. It aims to expand rice cultivation under sustainable standards, reduce irrigation water use, cut inorganic fertilizers, control straw burning, and strengthen regional coordination in irrigation operations. Mandatory farm data recording helps establish a measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) system for the rice sector.

In livestock production, the Livestock Development Strategy 2021–2030 places emissions reduction among mandatory solutions, requiring local authorities to deploy waste treatment technologies such as biogas systems and solid–liquid separation; adjust feed rations to reduce enteric methane emissions; and control herd sizes to limit environmental pressure. The strategy also sets a target that by 2030, the proportion of livestock farms applying waste treatment technologies must increase significantly, moving toward the development of circular livestock value chains in concentrated production zones.

In forestry, the Sustainable Forestry Development Program and REDD+ continue to define and implement parallel tasks of protecting natural forests and expanding the area of certified forests. This sector is a major carbon sink, projected to absorb 95 million tons of CO₂ annually by 2030, playing a key role in balancing the remaining emissions from agriculture. Efforts to digitize forest maps, control deforestation, and ensure timber traceability are also being strengthened, enabling Viet Nam to participate more actively in domestic and international carbon markets.