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Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung attends the opening of COP 21
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung led the Vietnam delegation attended the opening ceremony of the 21th conference of UN`s Convention on Climate Change (COP 21) that was formally opened at Bourget Convention Center, Paris. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung will have keynote at the plenary session of this conference.
French President Francois Hollande welcomed Prime Minister Dung
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Summit on Climate Change COP 21, attracted the participation of 150 leaders, heads of the national government and leaders of international organizations, representing 196 member parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 21). French President Francois Hollande and Secretary General of United Nations Ban Ki-Moon has welcomed Prime Minister Dung and heads of delegations of countries attending COP 21 conference.
Addressing the function, the PM expressed his appreciation for the support of the Netherlands Government, the WB and many countries and international organisations for Vietnam in general and the Mekong Delta region in particular.
In fact, a range of socio-economic development programmes in the delta are being adjusted in line with a blueprint devised as part of the strategic partnership on climate change response and water management between Vietnam and the Netherlands, he stated.
Concerning priorities of regional growth, he said activities to adapt to climate change and rising sea water level are considered an integral part of the Mekong Delta’s process of economic restructuring and switching to sustainable growth models. These activities have been included in provincial development plans across the region, capitalising on strengths of each localities.
According to the Government leader, Vietnam is working to integrate disaster risk management and climate change response in plans for urban development and land use. As such, green social infrastructure to counter flooding will be built at residential areas. The use of fossil fuels and the volume of greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced. Meanwhile, the disaster forecast and alert system will have its capacity boosted, alongside with strengthening measures to effectively cope with natural disasters and climate change.
The PM underlined the need for public awareness campaigns as well as public and business involvement in active disaster control and increased cooperation among regional countries and relevant partners, especially the Mekong River Commission, towards the sustainable exploitation and use of water resources in the Mekong Delta.
He said apart from its own efforts, Vietnam needs further support from countries and international organisations in adapting to the impacts of climate change. The Vietnamese government always values and manages the effective use of international funding, he emphasised.
Participants shared the view that climate change is posing challenges to Vietnam’s socio-economic development, which is one of the five countries hardest hit by climate change. Its Mekong Delta is suffering from the “double” impacts of climate change, rising sea level and unsustainable use of waters and dam construction in the upper reaches of the Mekong River.
Many localities in the region suffered from many storms and severe flooding that caused huge human and economic losses. At the same time, drought leads to increased salinity in the soil, affecting nearly 700,000ha of farming land, or around 40% of the total 1.7 million ha in the region.
WB Vice President Laura Tusk hailed Vietnam for its strong commitment and determination to devise effective ways to address climate change. She affirmed the WB will work closely with countries and international organisations on the issue and pledged to increase the annual funding for the bank’s member countries to cope with climate change to US$29 billion. Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte, for his part, pledged all possible support to Vietnam in the field.
According to COP21 conference program, along with the speech of US President Medvedev, Chinese President, Prime Minister of the UK, India, Germany, Japan..., Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung will have an important speech at the session of the COP21 summit, affirming to the world a strong political commitment of the Government of Vietnam has been and continues to take the initiative, be responsible for the international community to join hands and attempt to cope with climate change with specific actions at both national vision and international vision.
Before attending the COP21 conference, Vietnam is one of 150 countries that have actively made national commitments to the international community efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and ensure that the goal of keeping global temperatures to the year of 2100 will not exceed 2 Celsius Degrees, compared with pre-industrial era.
