8 November 2012: The World Bank Board of Directors has approved a US$70 million credit from the International Development Association to support the Vietnam Climate Change Development Policy Operation. The policy operation supports institutional development in Viet Nam for resilience, sustainable development, and climate change response.

The operation is the second of three policy operations and includes five policy actions for climate change related to adaptation, mitigation and cross-cutting issues. These policy actions will focus on water, energy, finance and the integration of climate change into development planning. To date, the operation has supported the development of the Law on Water Resources, the establishment of a National Climate Change Strategy, an institutional mechanism to promote climate finance, and a national platform for coordinating disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation.

The credit will contribute to a $253 million multi-donor Government Support Program to Respond to Climate Change, also involving Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the French Development Agency (AfD), AusAID and Korea Eximbank. The World Bank credit has a 25-year maturity with a five-year grace period. [World Bank Press Release]