Domestic climate change study paints bleak picture for Vietnam

Bao Cam in Thanh Nien News: Vietnam is suffering increasing damage from climate change, according to a recent report by a parliamentary committee. A report by the Committee of Science, Technology and Environment presented to the National Assembly, Vietnam’s legislature, showed that Vietnam is among the countries to be hit hardest by climate change in the coming years.

Natural disasters have cost the country around 1.5 percent of its annual gross domestic product (GDP) in the past two decades, the report said, citing findings of a study conducted by the committee. Typhoon Xangsane, for example, caused US$1.2 billion of damage in the central region in 2006.

Officials said Vietnam has yet to become a major greenhouse gas emitter, but its emissions continue to rise. “The threat of climate change has grown more vivid in Vietnam over the past 50 years,” the report said. “The average temperature increased by 0.5 degree Celsius, the sea rose more than 0.2 meters, natural disasters, floods and typhoons grew stronger and left many dykes became more vulnerable,” it said.

“Flooding caused by high tide has worsened in Ho Chi Minh City, Can Tho, and the Mekong Delta’s Ca Mau and Vinh Long provinces.” According to the report, areas suffering from the salinization of ground water and/or desertification have expanded due to rising temperatures....

Flood in Vietnam, 2011, shot by European Commission DG Echo, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons 2.0 license