The Vietnamese Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang will sell all carbon credits generated from the 30,000 hectares of high-quality low-emission rice within 2024, according to a local agricultural official.   

This year, Kien Giang will cultivate 60,000 ha of high-quality low-emission rice, part of the World Bank-funded Vietnam Sustainable Agriculture Transformation Project (VnSAT), under which one million hectares of high-quality low-carbon rice will be grown in the Mekong Delta region by 2030, said Nguyen Duy Tan, deputy director of the management board of the sub-project in Kien Giang (VnSAT Kien Giang).

Tan released the figures at a conference held on Friday to review the province’s agricultural production results in 2023 and discuss the targets set for 2024. 

Accordingly, the VnSAT Kien Giang management board expects to sell all carbon credits generated from 30,000 ha out of the 60,000 ha of rice of the special type in 2024, and the corresponding figures will be increased to 40,000 ha and 100,000 ha by 2025.

Carbon credits are tradable certificates that give holders the right to emit a certain amount of CO₂ or another amount of greenhouse gas converted to CO₂ equivalents.

One carbon credit is equal to one metric ton of CO₂ or one ton of CO₂ equivalents.

By 2030, the province will make about 200,000 ha of low-emission high-quality rice available, contributing to improving income and quality of life of farmers, strengthening environmental protection, adapting to climate changes, and minimizing greenhouse gas emission.

Such sustainable and green agricultural development will also contribute to the implementation of the country’s international commitment of achieving net zero emissions by 2050, which was announced by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in the UK in 2021.

In addition to Kien Giang, the aforementioned project is being implemented in 11 other Mekong Delta provinces, including An Giang, Dong Thap, Long An, Soc Trang, Can Tho, Bac Lieu, Tra Vinh, Hau Giang, Ca Mau, Tien Giang and Vinh Long.

Kien Giang is the province with the largest rice production area in Vietnam, with a total annual cultivation area of about 700,000 hectares and an output of more than 4.4 million metric tons per year on average, according to the Vietnam News Agency. 

The province aims to produce 4.4 million metric tons of rice in 2024, slightly lower than 2023, and high-quality rice will make up 90 percent of the output.

In 2023, Vietnam sucessfully sold over 10 million forest carbon credits, bringing in a total revenue of US$51.5 million, according to the agriculture ministry.

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