Regional cooperation is needed to cope with climate change in SoutheastAsia, speakers said at a symposium held in the Mekong Delta city ofCan Tho on June 4.
Eighty local and foreign experts inglobal-warming adaptation are in Can Tho for a regional symposium thatinvolves government partners, non-government organisations (NGOs), donoragencies and corporate partners.
Experts at the three-day eventare discussing innovative climate-change mitigation models that havebeen successfully implemented in Southeast Asia .
The goals ofthe symposium include creating a dialogue between partners in the ASEANcommunity and designing effective community-based climate-changeadaptation models.
Two to three possible adaptation measures willbe taken back to each partner office to share with the local communityin Can Tho.
The community partners will then help design the preferred adaptation models.
Basedupon the local context in Laos and Vietnam , the symposium willplace a specific focus on climate-change mitigation in agriculture andnatural-resource management at the community level.
A low-lying,densely populated area, the Mekong Delta is the heart of rice productionin Vietnam and is one of the world's most vulnerable regions toclimate change.
"Our side of the project will be based in CanTho, where 84 percent of its area is used for agriculture, with morethan 90 percent of it for rice production," said Nguyen Minh The, DeputyDirector of Can Tho's Department of Natural Resources and Environment.
"Theaverage alleviation of the province lies between 0.6 and 0.8 metresabove sea level and it is particularly susceptible to river and seawaterintrusion," he added.
Experts predicted that a possible 30cm rise in sea levels could destroy the city's rice crops, he added.
Otherclimate-change related issues are floods, landslides, upstream climateand land-use changes exacerbate the threat, resulting in salineintrusion and water shortages.
If the flood tides continue torise at the current pace, by 2030 they could reach a height of 2.5-3metres. At that time, the entire city could be under water.
The unpredictability of weather is already making farming activities difficult, and, in many cases, has reduced production.
Accordingto The, efforts are needed to implement climate-change adaptation andmitigation initiatives, especially at the community-based level, so thatpoor farmer households and the rest of the community can become moreresilient and adaptive.
Christy Owen, Deputy Chief of the MekongAdaptation and Resilience to Climate Change project, said that foodsecurity, health and the livelihoods of many of the Lower Mekong's 60million residents were dependent on the Mekong River 's naturalsystem and services, particularly for crop irrigation and fisheries.
Alsospeaking at the symposium, Nguyen Huong Thuy Phan, programmecoordinator for the Climate-Change Adaptation Initiatives of the MekongRiver Commission Secretariat, attributed the region's challenges to highuncertainty about future climate projections, particularly in relationto extreme events.
Ian Wood, team leader for climate-changeadaptation for the non-profit organisation Winrock International, basedin the US , said that climate change was indeed a reality, and thattemperatures were increasing, sea levels rising, and rainfall becomingmore variable.
As a result, Southeast Asia would continue tosuffer from floods, droughts, high temperatures and the impact ofsalinity, he added.
The symposium in Can Tho is one component ofthe Southeast Asia : Regional Environmental Adaptation to ClimateChange Training and Implementation Project that also kicked off on June4.
The goal of the project is to develop specialised training ininnovative climate-change adaptation techniques that further sustainableagriculture and natural-resource management.
The project alsoseeks to equip rural communities with the tools to plan for the futurein the face of escalating climate-change effects.
Under theproject, two eight-month pilot projects in Vietnam and Laos willbe designed and implemented at the community level, including aneffective M&E framework and an experience-sharing trip to learn fromother communities.
Southeast Asia is increasingly being affected by extreme climate change, such as floods, droughts and tropical cyclones.
People who are most affected by climate change are the rural poor living in areas with limited adaptive capacity.
Accordingto the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change AssessmentReport, Southeast Asia is expected to be greatly affected by climatechange, especially the agriculture industry.-VNA
Eighty local and foreign experts inglobal-warming adaptation are in Can Tho for a regional symposium thatinvolves government partners, non-government organisations (NGOs), donoragencies and corporate partners.
Experts at the three-day eventare discussing innovative climate-change mitigation models that havebeen successfully implemented in Southeast Asia .
The goals ofthe symposium include creating a dialogue between partners in the ASEANcommunity and designing effective community-based climate-changeadaptation models.
Two to three possible adaptation measures willbe taken back to each partner office to share with the local communityin Can Tho.
The community partners will then help design the preferred adaptation models.
Basedupon the local context in Laos and Vietnam , the symposium willplace a specific focus on climate-change mitigation in agriculture andnatural-resource management at the community level.
A low-lying,densely populated area, the Mekong Delta is the heart of rice productionin Vietnam and is one of the world's most vulnerable regions toclimate change.
"Our side of the project will be based in CanTho, where 84 percent of its area is used for agriculture, with morethan 90 percent of it for rice production," said Nguyen Minh The, DeputyDirector of Can Tho's Department of Natural Resources and Environment.
"Theaverage alleviation of the province lies between 0.6 and 0.8 metresabove sea level and it is particularly susceptible to river and seawaterintrusion," he added.
Experts predicted that a possible 30cm rise in sea levels could destroy the city's rice crops, he added.
Otherclimate-change related issues are floods, landslides, upstream climateand land-use changes exacerbate the threat, resulting in salineintrusion and water shortages.
If the flood tides continue torise at the current pace, by 2030 they could reach a height of 2.5-3metres. At that time, the entire city could be under water.
The unpredictability of weather is already making farming activities difficult, and, in many cases, has reduced production.
Accordingto The, efforts are needed to implement climate-change adaptation andmitigation initiatives, especially at the community-based level, so thatpoor farmer households and the rest of the community can become moreresilient and adaptive.
Christy Owen, Deputy Chief of the MekongAdaptation and Resilience to Climate Change project, said that foodsecurity, health and the livelihoods of many of the Lower Mekong's 60million residents were dependent on the Mekong River 's naturalsystem and services, particularly for crop irrigation and fisheries.
Alsospeaking at the symposium, Nguyen Huong Thuy Phan, programmecoordinator for the Climate-Change Adaptation Initiatives of the MekongRiver Commission Secretariat, attributed the region's challenges to highuncertainty about future climate projections, particularly in relationto extreme events.
Ian Wood, team leader for climate-changeadaptation for the non-profit organisation Winrock International, basedin the US , said that climate change was indeed a reality, and thattemperatures were increasing, sea levels rising, and rainfall becomingmore variable.
As a result, Southeast Asia would continue tosuffer from floods, droughts, high temperatures and the impact ofsalinity, he added.
The symposium in Can Tho is one component ofthe Southeast Asia : Regional Environmental Adaptation to ClimateChange Training and Implementation Project that also kicked off on June4.
The goal of the project is to develop specialised training ininnovative climate-change adaptation techniques that further sustainableagriculture and natural-resource management.
The project alsoseeks to equip rural communities with the tools to plan for the futurein the face of escalating climate-change effects.
Under theproject, two eight-month pilot projects in Vietnam and Laos willbe designed and implemented at the community level, including aneffective M&E framework and an experience-sharing trip to learn fromother communities.
Southeast Asia is increasingly being affected by extreme climate change, such as floods, droughts and tropical cyclones.
People who are most affected by climate change are the rural poor living in areas with limited adaptive capacity.
Accordingto the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change AssessmentReport, Southeast Asia is expected to be greatly affected by climatechange, especially the agriculture industry.-VNA
