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By Liangyi Chang and Rachel Cox
Asia Managing Director, 350.org; Campaign Strategy Lead of the Land and Environmental Defenders Campaign, Global Witness
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Apple CEO Tim Cook recently visited Vietnam to announce the company's plans to double down on investment in the country. After repeated supply chain disruptions in China, the global tech giant decided to diversify its manufacturing base and has since made Vietnam one of its most important production hubs.
Days after Cook visited Hanoi, Apple HQ released its latest Environmental Progress Report, reaffirming the company's commitment to net-zero emissions in their supply chain by 2030, and continued dedication to human rights and "equity and justice in climate solutions."
There is no doubt that Apple has been an important leader in promoting clean energy around the world, with investments in solar power projects and a goal to match every watt of electricity used from charging their devices with clean energy by 2030. But when it comes to Vietnam, they have a major problem.
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Vietnam is among Southeast Asia's fastest-growing economies, with energy demands projected to increase at least six times by 2050 from 2020 levels. Heavily dependent on coal, Vietnam is also one of the fastest-growing per capita greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters worldwide, with emissions quadrupling from 2000-2015. Meanwhile, the country is making lofty clean energy promises, including Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính's pledge a few years ago to reach net zero emissions by 2050; and an agreement one year later to a $15.5 billion Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) with the U.S., U.K., and other countries in the Global North. Vietnam's actions speak louder than its words.
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In the last few years, the Vietnamese government has targeted and unjustly imprisoned six of the country's most prominent climate leaders. These individuals and the organizations they ran would have been instrumental in facilitating Vietnam's shift away from coal and scaling up of clean energy solutions, thereby allowing companies such as Apple to achieve their own climate ambitions. Environmental organizations are being shut down throughout the country, and there is currently no safe way for civil society to hold the government accountable for their commitments to clean energy, let alone lend their expertise to what is an ambitious and complex process.
A successful energy transition can only occur with civil society's participation, which is fundamental to providing independent monitoring, analysis, and expertise from a social and environmental perspective. Vietnam's climate pledges are far from certain, given there are no timelines or commitments for retiring coal plants, and the country is proceeding with plans to heavily scale up investment in fossil gas—a significant contributor to GHG through methane emissions—rather than maximizing the country's vast potential for wind and solar. Meanwhile, there is no one who is able to hold the government accountable. Already the possibility of achieving a truly "just" transition is fatally compromised unless the prisoners are released and the culture of fear among climate and environmental advocates fundamentally changes.
The United Nations has made numerous statements about Vietnam's "systemic problem with arbitrary detention" of environmental defenders and has publicly called for the release of those unjustly imprisoned. Several governments, including the U.S., U.K., EU, and Germany, have also issued multiple public statements along the same lines. These calls are falling on deaf ears.
But Apple, a company of growing significance to Vietnam's economy, is in a unique position to bring this issue to the forefront. Just days before he visited Vietnam, Cook and the rest of Apple's leadership team and board of directors received an open letter from more than 60 human rights and climate justice organizations—including ours—urging the company to weigh in. "Simply stating that you are in support of equitable and just climate solutions and human rights is not enough," the letter said. "Your commitments require action, and now is the time to take it."
The unjust arrests in Vietnam are in stark contrast with Apple's Commitment to Human Rights, which states: "We believe in the critical importance of an open society in which information flows freely, and we're convinced the best way we can continue to promote openness is to remain engaged, even where we may disagree with a country's laws."
We are urging the company to stand by its own policies and publicly ask the Vietnamese government to release the unjustly imprisoned climate leaders and ensure that civil society is free to participate in the monitoring and implementation of Vietnam's transition to clean energy without fear of persecution. If not, Apple's own net zero goals will be difficult to achieve.
As our letter to Cook concluded: "It's all hands on deck to mitigate the global climate crisis. We appreciate everything Apple has done to accelerate solutions and implore you to use your powerful voice to raise concerns about this disturbing situation in Vietnam.
"How could Apple not take a public stance, knowing that it could make all the difference?"
Liangyi Chang is the Asia managing director of 350.org.
Rachel Cox is the campaign strategy lead of the Land and Environmental Defenders Campaign, Global Witness.
The views expressed in this article are the writers' own.
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