At the British Council, Ms. Sam Harvey, Director for Southeast Asia; Ms. Monomita Nag-Chowdhury, Global Director of the Connecting Climate Program; and Ms. Isobel Cecil, Global Director of the Climate Skills Program at the British Council, welcomed the delegation.

Comrade Pham Van Hieu, on behalf of the Can Tho City leadership, expressed gratitude and warm greetings to the leaders and representatives of the British Council in London for their time to work with the Can Tho City delegation during their visit to the United Kingdom. Comrade Hieu emphasized that the Vietnam-United Kingdom relationship has been continuously developing in all fields. In recent years, cooperation activities between the United Kingdom and Vietnam in global solutions such as greenhouse gas emissions reduction, climate change adaptation, biodiversity conservation, forest preservation, smart city development, and sustainable landscape protection have been given significant attention by the governments of both countries.

The British Council is an international cultural and educational cooperation organization of the United Kingdom, established in 1934. It currently has offices in over 100 countries and has been present in Vietnam since 1993. After over 30 years of operation in Vietnam, the British Council has built a reputable relationship with ministries and departments through a series of scientific research projects, cultural, educational, and artistic exchanges, making a profound contribution to the cooperation between Vietnam and the United Kingdom. In particular, the climate change response projects implemented by the British Council have contributed to raising awareness and adaptive skills for climate change, especially among young people, making a significant contribution to achieving the commitment of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, as announced by the Prime Minister of Vietnam at COP26.

In Can Tho, the British Council is also implementing the project "Climate Skills - Seeds for Green Transformation" to enhance awareness and adaptive skills for young people who are vulnerable to the unintended impacts of climate change.

The delegation took commemorative photos with the leaders and representatives of the British Council in London. Photo: Collaborator

The Mekong Delta is assessed by scientists as one of the three most vulnerable deltas in the world to sea-level rise. Recent weather patterns have shown an increasing severity of drought, saltwater intrusion, landslides, and flooding, posing threats to the livelihoods of people and sustainable development in the region. Can Tho City is also facing these risks. Recognizing the increasing severity of natural disasters, the city government has implemented the "Updated Action Plan for Climate Change Response for the period 2020-2030 with a vision to 2050," while proactively implementing integrated and practical solutions. These include investing in urban infrastructure projects to control flooding in the inner city, strengthening the saltwater intrusion monitoring network to proactively address drought, water scarcity, and saltwater intrusion, and developing an integrated action plan for green growth and climate change response…

Despite many efforts, the city faces challenges in achieving its sustainable development goals due to certain limitations in terms of financial resources, human capital, and technology. Therefore, Comrade Pham Van Hieu hopes that the British Council will further implement climate change response projects in Can Tho, such as supporting vulnerable groups to enhance their capacity to cope with the impacts of climate change, assisting students and young people in conducting research projects on the environment and climate change, promoting youth-led environmental-friendly entrepreneurial projects, and collaborating with the city to organize and enhance the effectiveness of waste reduction and plastic waste recycling movements, promoting green transition and minimizing the use of fossil fuels among young people. Additionally, Comrade Pham Van Hieu hopes that the British Council will engage with affiliated units and organizations under the British Government to implement cooperative projects in green economic development, especially in water resource management, sustainable agriculture development, renewable energy transition, and the restoration of canal systems in Can Tho City.

In addition to climate change response cooperation, leveraging its strengths in the field of education, particularly English language teaching and arts, during the meeting, the delegation expressed their request for the British Council to consider supporting the deployment of English language teaching volunteers for teachers, students, and pupils in schools, conducting English training courses for the city's officials and civil servants, facilitating teacher and student exchange programs between universities and high schools in Can Tho and schools in the UK, and organizing cultural and artistic exchange programs between Vietnam and the UK in Can Tho to introduce and create opportunities for Can Tho residents to better understand the unique cultural aspects of the UK and vice versa.

"With its reputation and influence, we hope that the British Council will not only support the training of climate change adaptation skills for young people in Vietnam in general and Can Tho in particular but also focus on training for young people living along the Mekong River banks," emphasized Comrade Pham Van Hieu.

At the Grantham Institute (Imperial College London), Professor Dr. Ralf Toumi, Director of the Grantham Institute, welcomed and worked with the delegation. The Grantham Institute is one of the seven global research institutes at the Royal London University, bringing together many experienced scientists in climate change and environmental protection research and international cooperation.

During the meeting, Comrade Pham Van Hieu expressed his hope that through this working session, the Grantham Institute would consider including Can Tho City in the list of priority areas for future cooperation activities, especially in terms of coordinating efforts to train climate change-adaptive human resources, sharing experiences, initiatives, and solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote the use of renewable energy. Can Tho City is ready to cooperate and create favorable conditions for the Institute to implement in-depth research programs and share practical experiences in coping with climate change in the city, contributing to enhancing global understanding of climate change issues, supporting vision and capacity for climate change adaptation in the future. At the same time, Can Tho City welcomes Professor and his colleagues to visit the city to assist in reviewing and updating an even more effective climate change action plan.

Professor Dr. Ralf Toumi highly appreciated the international cooperation efforts that the Can Tho City Government has been implementing, especially in responding to climate change. He pledged to consider prioritizing areas of cooperation for Can Tho City in the near future and arrange suitable time to visit Vietnam and Can Tho City for work purposes.

During the working trip, the delegation also visited the Embassy of Vietnam in Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The representatives of the two embassies also committed to actively supporting Can Tho City in trade activities and connecting investors and partners with the city.