Vietnamese trade unionists on Study tour on Green Growth

To tackle the environmental problems caused by the country’s rapid industrialization, the Government of Vietnam issued Vietnam Green Growth Strategy in September 2012 and National Action Plan for Green Growth in March 2014. The Vietnamese General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) - an umbrella organization for all Vietnamese trade unions – recognized its crucial role in raising awareness for industrial workers and employers on sustainable development as well as supporting companies to shift from brown technology into greener one.

The Friedrich Ebert Foundation Vietnam (FES Vietnam) supports VGCL in this endeavor with the project “The role of the Vietnamese Trade Union in Green Growth”, which was launched in 2016. With the help of international and national experts, the trade union representatives were introduced to the concept of Green Growth and learned to apply interactive training methods to foster worker’s participation. The study tour to Germany is part of the three-years cooperation. At the invitations from FES 12 trade unionists from different provinces in Vietnam joined the study tour, which took place from 25^th to 29^th of June in Berlin.

The study tour started with a visit to the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung’s headquarters and a presentation by Manuela Mattheß on FES’s work in the field of international climate and energy policy. The following day, the trade unionists met with representatives of the German Trade Union Federation (Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund – DGB) and the foundation Arbeit und Umwelt (labor and environment) to learn about the work of German trade unions in promoting Just Transition und Green Growth. An inspiring glimpse of the possible greener future were given by the on-site visits. Diverse best practice models from top-level science and technology park Adlershof, Siemens Gas Turbine Plant to energy self-sufficient village Feldheim demonstrated how energy transition can be a powerful engine for growth at all levels. The delegates received an overview of wide range of technological and economic possibilities regarding renewable energy production and storage and get some ideas for their own work as green growth advocates.