Pham Van Tan, deputy head of the Climate Change Department, Vietnam’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE), presents the ministry’s response to climate change threats to the country (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) – Vietnam ranks 6th globally in the most up-to-dateClimate Risk Index ranking released by Germanwatch, the highest of any ASEANcountry.
Germanwatch released the ranking, which analyses the extent to which eachcountry has been affected by weather-related loss events, at the 24thConference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on ClimateChange (COP24) on December 4 in Katowice, Poland.
Germanwatch is an NGO based in Bonn, Germany, also the home of the UN FrameworkConvention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). For 27 years, it has been engagedin environment and development issues, seeking to influence national policy andNorth-South relations.
In the ranking, Vietnam wasfollowed by Thailand at number 10. This is the result of storms, typhoons and droughts in 2017, which killed298 people.
The deadliest one,Typhoon Damrey, hit Vietnam in November and killed at least 106.
2017 was anexceptionally intense year for tropical cyclones, according to GermanwatchPolicy Adviser for Climate Risk Management Lena Hutfils. “Many countries arehit very frequently, so they don’t have an opportunity to recover in time,”Hutfils said.
She also drew attention to how eight out of the top ten countriesare from low- or middle-income groups.
David Eckstein, theorganisation’s Policy Adviser for Climate Finance and Investment, explainedthat the index consists of two components: one which looks at data from theprevious year, and one which incorporates a 20-year development. Data includesdirect short-term and long-term linkages between climate change andmeteorological events.
“[The index] should beunderstood as a warning signal,” Eckstein said. Furthermore, it providescrucial evidence to support the story that climate change and annual increasesin storms, typhoons, floods, are linked.
Eckstein hopes that thiswould translate into action from national governments, not only to deal withthe impact once it happens but also do more planning in advance.
Responding to theserecent developments at COP24, Pham Van Tan, deputy head of the Climate ChangeDepartment, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE), declaredthat climate change adaptation would be “the number one priority.”
Tan noted how Vietnam’s Governmentwas one of the first to pass an implementation framework for the ParisAgreement on climate change, nearly a month before the agreement itself wentinto effect in 2016. A key part of this plan is the constant review, submissionand implementation of Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), each country’sobjectives for mitigation measures.
At COP24’s Session onASEAN NDC Partnership, Tan stated that 47 of Vietnam’s 63 provinces had alreadysubmitted concrete implementation plans for the Paris Agreement. Vietnam is“among the most advanced in ASEAN” in terms of NDC implementation, according tothe Vietnamese official. His claim is supported by many in the internationalcommunity, who raised questions during the session to learn from Vietnam’s policies.
The NDC Partnership’sCountry Engagement Director Jahan Chowdhury commended Vietnam on its effectivecoordination between the government’s supreme leadership, Ministries andcivil-society actors for better climate change adaptation. According to Tan,MoNRE meets with NGOs once every three months to discuss the implementation ofpolicies at the grassroots level.
He has high expectationsfor the outcome of COP24, the most important gathering of internationalnegotiators on the issue of climate change.
He wants to see how muchsupport Vietnam will be able to obtain from the international communityfollowing MoNRE’s proposal for Greenhouse Gases Reduction plan.
“Support” is herebydefined as a combination of three things: finance, technology transfer andcapacity building. So far, Vietnam has not received any pledges from developedcountries with regards to financial support, a major concern.-VNS/VNA
Germanwatch released the ranking, which analyses the extent to which eachcountry has been affected by weather-related loss events, at the 24thConference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on ClimateChange (COP24) on December 4 in Katowice, Poland.
Germanwatch is an NGO based in Bonn, Germany, also the home of the UN FrameworkConvention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). For 27 years, it has been engagedin environment and development issues, seeking to influence national policy andNorth-South relations.
In the ranking, Vietnam wasfollowed by Thailand at number 10. This is the result of storms, typhoons and droughts in 2017, which killed298 people.
The deadliest one,Typhoon Damrey, hit Vietnam in November and killed at least 106.
2017 was anexceptionally intense year for tropical cyclones, according to GermanwatchPolicy Adviser for Climate Risk Management Lena Hutfils. “Many countries arehit very frequently, so they don’t have an opportunity to recover in time,”Hutfils said.
She also drew attention to how eight out of the top ten countriesare from low- or middle-income groups.
David Eckstein, theorganisation’s Policy Adviser for Climate Finance and Investment, explainedthat the index consists of two components: one which looks at data from theprevious year, and one which incorporates a 20-year development. Data includesdirect short-term and long-term linkages between climate change andmeteorological events.
“[The index] should beunderstood as a warning signal,” Eckstein said. Furthermore, it providescrucial evidence to support the story that climate change and annual increasesin storms, typhoons, floods, are linked.
Eckstein hopes that thiswould translate into action from national governments, not only to deal withthe impact once it happens but also do more planning in advance.
Responding to theserecent developments at COP24, Pham Van Tan, deputy head of the Climate ChangeDepartment, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE), declaredthat climate change adaptation would be “the number one priority.”
Tan noted how Vietnam’s Governmentwas one of the first to pass an implementation framework for the ParisAgreement on climate change, nearly a month before the agreement itself wentinto effect in 2016. A key part of this plan is the constant review, submissionand implementation of Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), each country’sobjectives for mitigation measures.
At COP24’s Session onASEAN NDC Partnership, Tan stated that 47 of Vietnam’s 63 provinces had alreadysubmitted concrete implementation plans for the Paris Agreement. Vietnam is“among the most advanced in ASEAN” in terms of NDC implementation, according tothe Vietnamese official. His claim is supported by many in the internationalcommunity, who raised questions during the session to learn from Vietnam’s policies.
The NDC Partnership’sCountry Engagement Director Jahan Chowdhury commended Vietnam on its effectivecoordination between the government’s supreme leadership, Ministries andcivil-society actors for better climate change adaptation. According to Tan,MoNRE meets with NGOs once every three months to discuss the implementation ofpolicies at the grassroots level.
He has high expectationsfor the outcome of COP24, the most important gathering of internationalnegotiators on the issue of climate change.
He wants to see how muchsupport Vietnam will be able to obtain from the international communityfollowing MoNRE’s proposal for Greenhouse Gases Reduction plan.
“Support” is herebydefined as a combination of three things: finance, technology transfer andcapacity building. So far, Vietnam has not received any pledges from developedcountries with regards to financial support, a major concern.-VNS/VNA
VNA