WWF stresses climate action for Viet Nam

28-10-2009

HCM City — A lack of immediate action on climate change will come at great cost to the Southeast Asian region, according to the World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF)’s new report on climate change, issued to celebrate the International Climate Action Day on October 24.

WWF said climate change was an issue of grave importance to Viet Nam as the region was already strongly affected by climate change.

WWF Viet Nam is working to engage people in climate change and to increase Viet Nam’s presence in the world forum.

The success of awareness-raising campaigns such as Earth Hour show the commitment of the Vietnamese Government and its citizens towards a climate change deal that will protect people and the planet.

The sea level rise is threatening the country’s coastal communities, and changes to the climate are stressing ecosystems.

A one-metre rise in sea level could drastically devastate nine key biodiversity hotspots in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta alone.

Between 1951 and 2000, it is estimated that Viet Nam’s average temperature has increased by 0.7oC.

Such climate changes exacerbate current regional pressures such as habitat loss, poorly planned infrastructure and unsustainable natural resource extraction. It coud further degrade cosystems, threaten livelihoods and undercut the region’s social and economic future.

In its report, WWF recommends three key climate change adaptation strategies to reduce vulnerability across the Greater Mekong region, which includes Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Viet Nam and southwest China.

These strategies include the protection of regional ecosystems, a reduction in non-climate related stresses such as unsustainable infrastructure and over-extraction of natural resources, and the implementation of a regional climate change adaptation agreement.

"The Mekong Delta is one of the most vulnerable deltas to climate change in the world and understanding these vulnerabilities and how healthy ecosystems can strengthen the ability of communities to cope with climate change is an important step toward adapting to climate change," said Trine Glue Doan, climate change advisor for WWF Viet Nam. — VNS