Country steps up to the plate to tackle climate issues

The Hanoi Times - Climate change adaption plans for land and water management topped the agenda at a workshop held yesterday in Ha Noi by Viet Nam’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) and the Danish Ministry of Development Co-operation.

The international community is increasingly concerned about the consequences of climate change for people, especially those in developing countries with little capacity to adapt to the changes, said Danish Minister for Development Co-operation Ulla Trnis.

Local adaptation

Therefore, climate change adaptation must be taken into account when making political and economic decisions; specific, efficient and timely actions must also be taken to ensure adaptation in localities, she said.

Land and water resources are under increasing stress due to over-exploitation and environmental change. The more resources degrade, the more the poor’s livelihoods are affected.

Poor families in coastal areas such as Viet Nam are particularly vulnerable to increasingly intense cyclones, typhoons and tropical storms, and will be unable to recover from damages. As a result, they will sink more deeply into poverty.

Resource management at the national level is not integrated; separate policies coming from different administrative units have been inconsistent and do not recognise the integral relationships between resources for productive, sustainable ecosystems. Therefore, integrated and multi-sectoral approaches are required for land and water management.

Explaining why Viet Nam was chosen to organise the workshop, Danish Ambassador to Viet Nam Peter Lysholt Hansen said that with its long coast line, Viet Nam was assessed to be o­ne of the most vulnerable countries.

Viet Nam has proved it is finding ways to cope with challenges of climate changes by building a national programme, Peter Lysholt Hansen said, expressing that Viet Nam needs to play a more active role in international efforts dealing with climate change issues.

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Pham Khoi Nguyen said the workshop was a part of the strategic policy dialogue process launched by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. The process aims to achieve agreement o­n some guiding principles o­n climate change adaptation in land and water management, Nguyen said.

The principals will give input in negotiations at the Conference of the Parties 15 in Copenhagen in December. Last December, the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment and the Danish Ambassador to Viet Nam signed an agreement under which the Danish Government granted US$40 million in non-refundable aid to help Viet Nam carry out a programme o­n climate change adaptation and mitigation from 2009-2013. The aid package was the largest ever earmarked for climate change activities, according to the MNRE.

The programme was started this month with the co-operation between the MNRE and the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The MNRE will develop climate change scenarios, as well as solutions and action plans to cope with climate change and raise public awareness of the situation.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade will assist the national programme o­n saving energy, helping enterprises foster sustainable economic development and restrict the use of substances causing the greenhouse effect.

To this end, a training programme o­n energy consultation and management at universities will be launched.