The Prime Minister has officially announced Decision 2139/QĐ-TTgapproving the National Strategic Plan on Climate Change. The Decision states that climate change is one of the most serious challenges for humans, causing negative impacts on lives and livelihoods. Being one of the most vulnerable countries, Vietnam regards climate change as an urgent issue and key challenge in the upcoming time.  

As an example of the potential severity of climate change impacts on Vietnam: if the sea level was to increase by one meter, 40 per cent of Mekong Delta's area, 11 percent of Red River Delta's area and three percent of total area of coastal provinces would be flooded,  over 20 per cent of Ho Chi Minh city would be flooded and 10-12 percent of Vietnamese population would be directly affected. Just a one meter sea level rise is estimated to cause a loss of 10 per cent of GDP.

In order to effective cope with climate change, the national strategic plan established four specific objectives: 1) Ensure food security, energy security, water resource security, poverty eradication, gender equality, social welfares, public health, improve the quality of life and protect natural resources in the context of climate change. 2) Develop a low carbon economy with green growth. 3) Raise awareness, responsibility and build capacity for responding to climate change for stakeholders, develop scientific and military capability and human resource, complete the institution and policy; effectively use the opportunity provided by climate change. 4) Collaborate with the international community to fight against climate change.

The National Strategic Plan on Climate Change prepares to establish a climate change and sea level rise monitoring system by 2015, and increase the accuracy of storm and weather forecasts to meet the Asian standard in order to reduce the loss of human and property caused by natural disasters. In addition, forestresources must be managed in a sustainable manner to ensure resistance to natural disasters, desertization,  soil salinity, and other climate change impacts. The National Strategic Plan on Climate Change ha a vision that by 2020, the forest coverage of Vietnam will reach 45 percent.

(Vietnam+)