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Vietnam is at the forefront of trade and commerce. Following its participation in the 2022 G7 summit, Vietnam was hailed by the UK PM for its initiative in trying to reduce coal emissions and moving on to the use of renewable sources. G7 countries agreed to provide 15.5 billion in investments if this was fruitful by 2050.
The deal was made possible not only through the efforts of officials within the communist regime but also with the support of a dedicated group of environmental activists and NGO leaders.
Environmentalists Ngo Thi To Nhien, Hoang Thi Minh Hong, Duong Duc Viet, and Le Quoc Anh are some of the activists jailed over the last two years who were instrumental in signing of the deal, a big step towards climate change. Now that their work is done, they have been picked up on charges like tax evasion. The Ministry of Public Security defended its actions by stating that they were not arrested on false charges but rather arrested for appropriating confidential documents about Vietnam Electricity.
Vietnam wishes to maintain and retain control over energy policy. This act has been criticized by the US and other world powers.
Project 88, a human rights advocacy group, also condemned the act and stated that the arrested individuals were denied fair trials and obscure tax laws have been used to silence them. Furthermore, even the people who work in government-approved agencies and projects to advocate clean energy have been targeted and imprisoned. This is alarming and serves as evidence that significant changes in individual protection laws and free speech advocacy are urgently needed.
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