Viet Nam’s Urban Cooling Milestone
Extreme heat is intensifying across the globe, but in Southeast Asia, the collision of rapid urbanisation and high humidity has turned heat stress into a daily systemic challenge. In Viet Nam, urban heat islands are already pushing land surface temperatures in city centres up to 5°C higher than surrounding areas. This urban overheating trend carries deep implications for public health, energy demand, and economic resilience.
Against this backdrop, Viet Nam’s Department of Climate Change (DCC) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Cool Coalition, and the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) concluded a multi-year partnership with the release of a new Urban Cooling Action Plan (UCAP) package for pilot cities. The culmination of this work was marked by a national event in Hanoi on 28 August 2025, attended by nearly 100 participants from ministries, local governments, technical institutions, and the financial sector. The event served as a bridge between policy and practice, reinforcing Viet Nam’s climate ambitions, while laying the groundwork for scalable, investment-ready cooling solutions.
Translating plans into city practice
Deputy Director Lê Ngọc Tuấn of the DCC opened the session, positioning urban cooling within Viet Nam’s evolving climate policy framework, and noting the country’s strong commitment alongside the international community.
Viet Nam joined the Global Cooling Pledge in 2023 with a target to reduce cooling-related emissions by at least 68% by 2050 (against 2022 levels), and has since introduced key policies to enable this transition. In 2024, the Prime Minister issued a National Plan on managing and phasing out ozone-depleting substances and controlled greenhouse gases (Decision 496/QĐ-TTg), which set priorities like raising minimum energy performance standards for cooling equipment and promoting climate-friendly refrigerants. Most notably, 2025 marked the first time the concept of sustainable cooling was institutionalized in Viet Nam’s regulations through a new government decree that paves the way for long-term cooling strategies.
In the same opening session, Benjamin Hickman, UNEP Cool Coalition Senior Programme Manager, spoke on the critical role cities will play in delivering on Viet Nam’s cooling commitments under the Global Cooling Pledge. He warned of the current vicious cycle in which inefficient cooling devices consume excessive energy and exacerbate urban heat, stressing that access to cooling is now an essential public need rather than a luxury.
Bringing the investment lens, Maria Cecilia Pana, Deputy Country Representative at GGGI Viet Nam, underscored the importance of risk mitigation and cross-sector partnerships to accelerate the transition from planning to bankability.
From the national to the local level, Nguyen Dang Thu Cuc, Deputy Head of the Greenhouse Gas Emission Management and Ozone Layer Protection Division at DCC, shared regulatory progress in incorporating sustainable cooling across sectors–from building design and urban planning to health and ozone protection programs.
Meanwhile, Manjeet Singh, Senior Project Specialist at the UNEP Cool Coalition, outlined the outcomes of the DCC–UNEP–GGGI partnership, drawing out technical and institutional lessons that can inform a national scale-up.
The event’s technical sessions drew upon insights from the pilot cities, showcasing practical applications of urban cooling strategies at the local level. UNEP Senior Technical Experts Zhuolun Chen and Ngo Hoang Ngoc Dung presented insights from the UCAP pilots in Can Tho and Tam Ky, demonstrating how data-driven urban design interventions can mitigate extreme heat. They recommended measures such as passive cooling through urban greenery and natural ventilation, reflective “cool” roofing, and high-efficiency cooling systems to reduce heat exposure, while cutting emissions. These city case studies illustrated that combining passive strategies (like urban trees, water features, and airflow-oriented design) with efficient cooling technologies can help cities adapt to rising temperatures without driving up emissions.
City representatives then offered practical reflections on translating plans into action. Nguyen Thi Thuy Nhi, Deputy Director of the Can Tho Department of Agriculture and Environment (DAE), explained how UCAP guidance is already shaping development planning. Nguyen Hoang Yen of Da Nang DAE explained how UCAP recommendations are being woven into new projects, even as administrative boundaries evolve. She noted that a pilot concept initially developed for Tam Ky’s Phu Binh area is now being implemented in Quang Phu Ward, an area recently incorporated into Da Nang.
Laying the groundwork for investment
Sustainable cooling is not just a climate and health imperative, but also a significant economic opportunity. The cooling market in developing economies is already valued at roughly 300 billion USD and is expected to double by 2050, opening major opportunities to mobilize green finance.
The final workshop session connected solutions to finance, with UNEP Technical Advisor Trinh Quoc Dung introducing a shortlist of cooling projects in Can Tho and Tam Ky now ready for investment, notably the New Urban Area and Centralized IT Park Project in Can Tho and Phu Binh Residential Area Project in Tam Ky. Echoing these insights, Dao Thi Mai Hoa, Sustainable Investment Officer at GGGI, detailed blended finance mechanisms and public–private models capable of bringing those projects to market, underscoring the need to leverage both domestic funds and international climate finance.
To close the event, private-sector perspectives showcased how planning is translating into bankable projects. Ngo Thi Thanh Truc of NANOEN, a consulting firm for project development, introduced an investable concept for Can Tho’s New Urban Area and Centralised IT Park, illustrating design elements that can attract green investment. Ha Quang Anh, Acting Director of the Centre for Climate Change Adaptation and Carbon Neutrality, followed with a residential cooling project now under development in Da Nang’s Quang Phu Ward, a tangible example of UCAP proposals being realized on the ground. Together, these presentations demonstrated how UCAPs are generating pipeline-ready opportunities aligned with Viet Nam’s climate and green growth goals.
A Model for scalable urban cooling
UCAPs provide a blueprint for cities to turn high-level climate goals into practical solutions. By integrating granular heat mapping, climate-responsive design, supportive policies, and project development strategies, UCAPs help cities reduce heat risk, cut energy use, protect public health, and mobilize green finance. The newly published Urban Cooling Action Plan for Can Tho exemplifies this approach, using granular heat mapping, design guidance, regulatory integration, and project development strategies to support climate-resilient urban planning. This outcome adds to the UNEP Cool Coalition’s broader efforts across Southeast Asia to accelerate uptake of sustainable cooling, ensuring that national pledges translate into measurable urban action.
The Urban Cooling Action Plan for Can Tho city is available in English and in Vietnamese, offering a model that other cities in Viet Nam and beyond can draw upon in the journey toward cooler, climate-friendly cities
More information on the Sustainable Urban Cooling in Viet Nam’s Cities event is available here.