A $15.5 billion agreement between the US and other partners with Vietnam may be in danger, just months after the two countries signed a landmark environmental contract. The money was pledged to Vietnam as a result of the country’s willingness to stop or offset carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.

The US and numerous wealthy backers of the new funding plan, Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), plus some wealthy countries, said the advocacy deal was crucial for Vietnam so they would promote green energy plans, and reduce the country’s negative environmental impact.

The Social Republic of Vietnam signed the agreement with funding nations and organizations including the US, the European Union, the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Japan, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of France, the Italian Republic, Canada, the Kingdom of Denmark and the Kingdom of Norway.

The goal of the $15.5 billion funding is for Vietnam to move away from coal, which releases dangerous carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere, and replace it with renewable energy. Simultaneously, the deal was created to assist Vietnam grow its economy.

As part of the new deal with JETP, Vietnam agreed to design its new plan to reduce its carbon emissions by working with local grass-roots activists.

In signing on to the legal agreement, Vietnam promised not to target climate activists. But now, many of the same environmental activists who ignited the multi-billion dollar deal are in jail, after being arrested for what critics say are false tax charges.

In total, four of Vietnam’s environmental leaders and activists were arrested by the government, including Nguy Thi Khanh, Mai Phan Loi, Bach Hung Duong and Dang Dinh Bach.

The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, an organization comprised of thirty-six civil society groups from around the world, has demanded Vietnam release at least one of the jailed activists, Dang Dinh Bach.

Mr. Bach said he will go on a hunger strike as a protest against his imprisonment. The UN Working Group said that Bach's detention “had resulted from the peaceful exercise of his fundamental freedoms.”

In a statement sent to world leaders, the United States Working Group said,

“There will be no 'just' transition unless Vietnam's restrictive policies and ongoing persecution of the country's leading environmental defenders are addressed and remedied. Human rights and civic space must not be subordinated to climate diplomacy."

Mr. Bach is a famous NGO climate activist and was sent to prison for five years for alleged tax evasion, a charge he vehemently denies. On June 9, he shared a statement from prison, that his wife memorized when visiting him.

In his statement repeated by his wife, he said, "I refuse the entire prison rations. I refuse all medical visits; I refuse to sign any documents; I condemn the violation of my personal rights. The prison has arbitrarily filmed me and may try to use my pictures and post personal information related to me for any purpose and without my consent.”

He said he is going to stay on his hunger strike, which he began on June 9, until he is set free and able to work on the climate changes promised by Vietnam.

“I accept the consequences, even if I lose my life,” said Mr. Bach. “I affirm this action as non-combatant, non-violent, and free from internal and external conflicts.”

Further, Mr. Bach said, activists must tackle the impact that serious environmental problems inflicted on specific areas in Vietnam. Mr. Bach said the world must help victims in the Thanh Hoa province, “in the case of burying pesticides and poisoning the living environment of 20,000 households by Nicotex Thanh Thai company,” plus assist “victims of Nghi Son 2 Thermal Power Plant, Hai Phong coal-fired power plant; Vinh Tan Thermal Power Plant; and (the) Mekong mainstream hydropower.”

Another imprisoned activist, Hoang Thi Minh Hong, is the founder and director of CHANGE, an NGO with a mission to change Vietnam’s egregious environmental issues. She was arrested and like Mr. Bach, charged with tax evasion.

Ms. Hong founded CHANGE ten years ago, in 2013. She is a powerful force of change for environmental activists who encouraged large groups of Vietnamese young people to take action against the country’s dangerous carbon emissions, a powerful illegal wildlife trade and ongoing pollution.

Numbers of human rights organizations say the imprisonment of these activists is the result of the country’s ruling communist party attacking the climate activists, who are well-known protesters in Vietnam.

Phil Robertson, the deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch, said the arrests show a pattern of dangerous censorship.

“Vietnam’s selective use of its vague and flawed tax law to target environmentalists and climate change activists with politically motivated prosecutions is a new, extremely troubling development, said Robertson.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller agreed.

”These detentions by Vietnamese authorities are part of a concerning pattern of arrests of local environmental and civil society advocates," said Miller.

The Social Republic of Vietnam replied to the nonprofit AFP about Hong’s arrest, saying they are “committed” to environmental change in the country as promised.

"Vietnam has always affirmed its strong commitment in environmental protection and coping with climate change, green and sustainable development,” said Nguyen Duc Thang, deputy spokesperson for the Vietnam foreign ministry. "In Vietnam, individuals, associations and organizations, NGOs are guaranteed normal operation in accordance with laws and regulations, while at the same time, they must obey and take responsibilities for their activities before laws."

There is no official word, as of today, if the $15.5 billion deal will be impacted by the imprisonment of the four Vietnam climate leaders and activists.