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Michael ParsonsSenior Technical Advisor Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE)“As the advisor, you have to make sure you don't waste any opportunity to contribute to improvement in the country.” |
Over a ten-year period, only one Australian citizen received two honours from the Vietnamese government for his services to the country. It was none other than Dr. Michael Parsons, a voluntary policy advisor for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE).
Dr Parsons’ dedication to Vietnam dated back to 2011, when, upon retirement from full-time work, he became a volunteer at Vietnam’s Institute of Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment (ISPONRE) under the Australian Volunteers for International Development program.
He supported ISPONRE in developing important policy documents, including the National Strategy for Environmental Protection to 2020 and Vision to 2030 and Party Resolution 24 on Climate Change, Natural Resources, and Environment. In 2013 he was awarded the MONRE State Campaign Medal. In 2016 he was invited to become Policy Adviser to the incoming MONRE Minister Tran Hong Ha.
In February 2020, Dr Parsons was awarded the Friendship Medal, the country’s highest international honour awarded to a foreigner, by President Nguyen Phu Trong for his highly regarded contributions to sustainable development of the natural resources and environment sectors and to relations between Vietnam and Australia.
Among his greatest achievements is undoubtedly the development of the concept of "payments for forest environmental services," which incentivises individuals and communities to preserve and safeguard their forests in return for financial rewards. Dr Parsons stated, "Everyone was cooperating based on the idea that conservation should be at the service of local people."
Other notable contributions include his support that enabled MONRE to develop the 2020 Law on Environmental Protection in which identified 17 industrial sectors that are more prone to pollution and will be subject to specific regulations. Specifically, after a high-profile environmental contamination incident in Ha Tinh province in 2016, he saw an opportunity for Vietnam to evaluate its environmental protection system. He gave MONRE evidence demonstrating that, in countries that had industrialised before Vietnam, a small number of very big businesses usually produce pollution and therefore, Vietnam should focus on tackling most-polluting sector first in its efforts to protect the environment.
Looking back to his work in Vietnam, he said: “As the advisor, you have to make sure you don't waste any opportunity to contribute to improvement in the country.
You have to seize the right time. You're not going to have any influence if you speak up when people are not listening. That’s when they're busy with other problems. But when they want to hear a solution to the problem they have, it's time just to say something if you've got something to say.”
At the moment, Dr. Parsons’s work is to support MONRE in the negotiations for the global plastics treaty, which is to be completed at the end of 2024.