Response to Climate Change

 

Climate change affects fundamental elements of human life on a global scale, such as water, food, energy, health and environment. Hundreds of millions of people may face famine, water shortage and flooding in coastal areas because of global warming and rising sea level.

 

Due to its geographical location, Vietnam is a country hit most by disasters on earth. On average, some 70 % of Vietnamese population faces 6-8 oceanic storms each year in addition to rising sea level, submergence, flooding and landslides. Most natural disasters in Vietnam relate to extreme weather conditions. The frequency and intensity of natural disasters depend on the seasons and climate change.

 

Clearly, climate change will seriously threaten the development of Vietnam. Natural disasters are abnormal in many regions all over the country. The presence of three continuous storms in a few days in 2009 in Vietnam is cited as a persuasive evidence for impacts of climate change.

 

In Vietnam, natural disasters cause numerous human and material damages. The poor is the most vulnerable and is put under highest pressure to uplift the response to climate change and natural disasters. According to the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, climate change will "engender more pressures on residents living in environment-deteriorated areas and fast-growing unplanned urban zones, and weaken the community’s ability to respond disaster risks.”

According to Ian Wilderspin, Senior Technical Advisor, Disaster Risk Management Project, there are two important solutions to the climate change. The first is mitigation, which focuses on addressing basic causes of climate change by diminishing emissions from human activities. The second is response and control unavoidable future impacts of climate change on environment and society.

 

"Response to climate change requires the implementation of a range of activities like preparing natural disaster risk assessments, protecting ecosystems, improving agricultural techniques, managing water resources, building resettlements in safe zones, setting up early warning systems, institutionalising the designing of construction works, expanding insurance coverage, and developing social security networks,” said Ian Wilderspin.

 

He added that these response solutions need to be associated with the sustainable development process because it will help mitigate risks against human beings while enhancing the community's response to the devastation of natural disasters. In any possible case, mitigation and response measures should be done simultaneously because several response solutions may also help reduce greenhouse emission while mitigation measures can reduce disaster risks.

 

Mindfully, response to climate change may be adaptable but, on the contrary, mitigation of disaster risks is seasonal. Vietnam’s approach to mitigation of natural disaster risks should be implemented through "the prism of climate change."

 

According to Dr. Tran Thuc, Director of the Vietnam Institute of Meteorology, Hydrology and Environment, uplifting awareness and understanding of climate change will help people prevent and withstand natural disasters. This is also the key contents of Vietnam’s national climate change response programme. From 2010, awareness lifting plans will be carried out in vulnerable localities, industries, competent authorities and education systems. The Government expects to see more than 10 % of population and over 65 % of civil servants understand climate change basically. By 2015, the respective figures will be 80 % and 100 %.

 

In addition, Mr Koos Neefjes, senior adviser for climate change policies with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Vietnam, said urban planning needs to be given more care. For example, in Ho Chi Minh City, dike systems are being upgraded but to ensure that flooding will cause less damage in this area by 2050, local authorities must take more effort. Importantly, the city should stop expanding to the lowlands while reallocating some residents and industrial facilities out of the city.

 

Designs of infrastructure systems need to take more frequent natural disasters into account.

Above all, according to Koos Neefjes, Vietnam needs to care more about most vulnerable groups like coastal residents with low income and little access to health and education services. Forests need to be grown here to protect dykes and biodiversity.