May 2008: The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Global Mechanism of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) have jointly commissioned a report entitled “Mitigating the Impact of Climate Change and Land Degradation through IFAD’s Country Strategic Opportunities Paper (COSOP) in Viet Nam.” The report examines the impact of climate change and land degradation on Viet Nam’s agricultural and related sectors, to guide project design of COSOP priorities and to identify supplementary financing for IFAD projects from the UNFCCC and other carbon-related financing mechanisms.

The report suggests that COSOP projects should explicitly be designed to capture carbon financing opportunities, although carbon revenue in itself will not be able to finance a project in its entirety. The report identifies focus areas suggested for informing Viet Nam’s Mitigation and Adaptation Action Plan, and suggests developing pilot projects related to the following four action areas, as a way to enable IFAD to gain first-hand knowledge of and experience in addressing climate change affects in the context of agricultural and rural development: developing climate change-resilient agricultural systems oriented to reducing GHG emissions; reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation; encouraging community-based agroforestry for carbon sequestration in the uplands; and adopting integrated coastal land management to reduce local communities’ vulnerability to climate change. [Mitigating the Impact of Climate Change and Land Degradation through IFAD’s COSOP in Viet Nam]