The council will consult with the National Committee on Climate Change during the design of policies and application of advanced science and technology to cope with climate change in accordance with Vietnam ’s socio-economic development strategies, said Deputy Minister Tran Hong Ha.


As one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, Vietnam is highly aware that mitigating the effects of climate change and preventing accompanying natural disasters is vital to the country’s sustainable development, he said.

The country has deployed numerous measures and policies to tackle climate change and boost green energy development at home while also working together with the international community to reduce global climate change impacts and protect the environment, he noted.

Also on January 22, the MONRE released Vietnam ’s Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX Vietnam).

According to Dr. Pratibha Mehta, UN Resident Coordinator in Vietnam , the report was conducted by 40 Vietnamese scientists and eight national institutes with the support of the UN Development Programme.

It updates natural disaster risks in Vietnam , as well as elaborates on necessary steps to be taken, she said.

SREX Vietnam also points out the need for a long-term vision on climate change adaptation when designing strategies for sectors and localities in the context of extreme events, she stated.

Beyond handling flood and storm consequences, it is crucial to reduce the risk of extreme weather phenomena by reducing the vulnerability of communities, infrastructure systems, and economic activities, as well as impacts on agriculture, urban planning, and tourism development, among others, says the report.

Professor Tran Thuc, Vice Chairman of the Advisory Council, said climate change has led to unusual weather patterns with strong impacts on Vietnam .

Adapting to climate change should be considered a major focus for the country’s public investment, said Thuc.

Vietnam has considerable experience in dealing with dramatic weather and natural disasters, as it faced an average of 6-7 major storms annually and countered 74 floods from 1990 to 2010, together with other extreme events including droughts and landslides, he noted.

The SREX Vietnam also dictates a series of measures to respond to disasters and climate change, including analysing risk, improving alert systems, and enhancing social protection and support systems focusing on the elderly and children, providing a framework for ministries a nd localities to design climate change strategies.

Mekong tackles climate change

The Government of Viet Nam plans to use sea dykes, trees and a freshwater reservoir to minimise the damage caused by landslides and land erosion in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang.

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai headed a government task force that arrived in the province yesterday to carry out an on-site evaluation. After visiting river mouths, sea dykes, fish markets and protective forests near the city of Rach Gia, the task force concluded that the effect of climate change was evident.

Chairman of the Kien Giang People's Committee Le Van Thi said that with a coastline stretching over 200km, Kien Giang had to manage 212km of sea dykes and over 80 river mouths.

The sea level is increasing by an average of 1cm every year. If the sea level goes up by 0.5m, 50 per cent of the province's land surface will be submerged.

Moreover, numerous parts of the coastline suffer from landslides and land erosion, which even reaches residential areas such as Hon Dat, An Bien and An Minh.

The Government has approved a number of projects in recent years to build and enhance the sea dyke system and plant protective forests, in addition to earmarking VND174 billion (about US$8 million) to help the Mekong Delta region deal with the effects of climate change.

In a meeting with local leaders, the Deputy PM told Kien Giang and other provinces in the Mekong Delta region to prepare for the negative effects of climate change.

The fight against climate change required a long-term strategy and localities must not solely rely on the sea dyke system, which required a large amount of funding to build and maintain, he said, recommending other solutions such as planting protective forests, establishing early warning systems and weather forecast stations and creating buffer zones to separate the sea and land.

The Deputy PM ordered the province to co-operate closely with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) to establish a production scheme suitable for each locality that would minimise the damage of climate change. He also told MARD and the Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment to submit recommendations for coping with climate change to the Government.