Can you talk about you or your company’s efforts relating to renewability, sustainability or other environmentally- friendly activities?

EVNPECC3’s history started in 1979 and our renewable energy (RE) footprint can be traced from 2004. We are one of the only consultancy units pioneering RE in Vietnam, conscious of the available RE technologies, the regulatory environment, and the political climate of the region.

Our service portfolio includes tailored consultation and engineering products comprising energy potential assessment, planning, investment project formulation, and design. We have been involved in hundreds of RE projects across the country and in internationally sponsored projects like the World Bank’s Vietnam Wind Map, the General Department of Energy’s wind measurement and wind power policy research, and KFW’s installation and operation of wind measuring masts.

In 2021 and 2022, we hosted several online and offline events for RE and green energy transition with representatives from the Ministry of Resource and Environment, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Planning and Investment, Vietnam Electricity, GIZ, Copenhagen Offshore Partners, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (USA), and more.

In EVNPECC3, I support investors in analysing RE regulatory framework and affairs, providing tailored legal solutions for RE projects in different stages of development. I have been actively involved at regional and national levels in promoting legal frameworks for renewable and just energy transition. My goal is to promote sustainable development for renewable energy, achieve comprehensive regulatory reform, and help retain investors’ interest in this industry.

Why are in-house lawyers well-placed to drive change in their organisations?

In-house lawyers have a unique position in their organisation that requires an in-depth understanding of the organisation’s structure and its business.

With their legal expertise, in-house lawyers act as advisors for management in making key decisions and devising initiatives. They must be alert to ever-changing legal and regulatory policies that govern the organisation’s operation, especially companies in heavily regulated sectors like power and electricity.

In-house lawyers must coordinate with other departments in the organisation to help navigate their course of action through legal advice, risk management, and corporate governance while handling stakeholder conflicts with objectivity.

In total, in-house lawyers must be able to draw out the big picture strategy with explainable insight. They are therefore required to possess to some extant knowledge and skills of fields outside their legal practice in order to successfully promote comprehensive change.

It can be difficult to truly measure a company’s track record and accomplishments in terms of their environmentally-friendly behaviour. What do you think has, until now, been mostly missed when discussing how green a company is?

When we discuss how green a company is, the topics most often ignored are fair labour practices and social responsibility both within the organisation and in their partners across the supply chain.

In the RE industry, we know that businesses tend to emphasise the capacity of their projects without providing transparency on other issues like recyclability and biodiversity loss. It is tempting for many to resort to greenwashing and to exaggerate claims about how they decarbonise the environment, how they boost the economy, etc., to gain favour from the public.

Unfortunately, those factors are difficult to concretely track and are easily dismissed as trivial matters in a business discussion. This contributes to a lack of evidence for the legitimacy of an organisation’s green footprint across its operation.