On December 7, representatives from 192 countries arrived in Copenhagen, Denmark to attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference. As one of the countries to suffer the most from climate change, Vietnam is determined to take joint action together with the rest of the world to deal with the challenge.
Heavy impact
Most scenarios on climate change show that Vietnam is one of the countries in the world to suffer the most from rising sea levels. Accordingly, if the sea rises by one metre, it will affect around 5 percent of the country’s land mass, 11 percent of the population, and 7 percent of agricultural production, leading to a 10 percent reduction in Vietnam’s GDP.
If using the topographical data to estimate the flooding damages caused by a one metre rise in sea levels, the Mekong and Red River Deltas will be most seriously affected.
The Research Institute of Sea and Island Management under the General Department of Sea and Islands also gives a similar picture of climate impact on the two regions. Dr. Vu Thanh Ca from the institute says that the damage of many sea dykes caused by flooding in Nam Dinh’s coastal areas is estimated at hundreds of billions of VND.
Dinh Van Duc from the Department for Agriculture and Rural Development in the northern province of Ninh Binh says that abnormal weather phenomenon such as tropical storms, flooding, and land erosion have been a common occurrence in recent years.
Chu Thanh Ha, deputy director of the Ninh Thuan provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment, says that if the sea rises by around 1m in the last few years of the century most areas in Kim Son, Yen Khanh, Yen Mo districts will be under water and most agricultural land will be turned into salt marshes. At times the sea could even venture as far as 12km inland, seriously affecting agricultural production.
Researchers say that rising sea levels will seriously affect the daily lives of coastal citizens. A lot of fertile land will probably be flooded or salted. Crab and shrimp breeding farms will have to be moved to other areas. The coastal fishing industry and marshes that are home to crabs, shrimps and sea birds will be threatened. The decreasing bio-diversity will cause marine life in special zones to disappear along with excess land exploitation and deforestation.
Improving awareness and capacity to cope with climate change
Professor Truong Quang Hoc, head of the Department for Climate Change under the Nature and Environment Protection Association says that most local people are still unaware of the serious impact of climate change. They only know that climate change can cause natural disasters, while local authorities do little to encourage the community to cope with climate change by drawing lessons from previous disaster prevention efforts.
Professor Hoc says that the ministries, departments and local authorities are still poorly coordinated in introducing climate change prevention as part of action programmes aimed at reducing poverty and creating jobs in localities.
Like other experts, Dr Vu Thanh Ca says it is imperative to make both officials and local people fully aware of the need to prevent and respond to climate change in an effective and sustainable manner.