11 April 2023

We are writing with an urgent request regarding climate justice in Vietnam, which directly impacts Apple and your manufacturing operations in the country. Since Vietnam is now Apple’s most important production hub outside of China and you have committed to human rights and “equity and justice in climate solutions," we believe you have a responsibility to weigh in on the systematic persecution and imprisonment of climate leaders in the country. Indeed, by not making a public statement on this matter, you risk violating your own environmental and human rights policies and delegitimizing Apple’s positive work in these areas.

Vietnam has weaponized its ambiguous laws to arrest climate leaders on trumped-up “tax evasion” charges. Those who have been targeted include Goldman Environmental Prize winner Ms. Nguy Thi Khanh, who served 16 months behind bars after working to reduce the government’s coal expansion plans and researching solar solutions; prominent environmental lawyer, Mr. Dang Dinh Bach, who is serving a five-year sentence after dedicating his life to protecting communities from harmful pollution, phasing out plastic waste, and supporting the Vietnamese government’s transition to clean energy; and Obama Foundation Scholar Ms. Hoang Thi Minh Hong, who is serving three years in prison after founding and leading the environmental group CHANGE Vietnam which was dedicated to clean energy and wildlife conservation solutions.

Vietnam’s latest arrest of Ms. Ngo Thi To Nhien, former Executive Director of Vietnam Initiative for Energy Transition, was based on “appropriation of information or documents,” suggesting efforts to criminalize access to information about Vietnam’s clean energy transition.

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