Ho Chi Minh City will be one of the 11 major cities in south Asia and Southeast Asia to be hardest hit by climate change, said a World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) report.

The report was presented at the first Mekong Delta Climate Change Forum held in Can Tho City on Nov. 12 and 13. The WWF also warns that the impacts of climate change on Vietnam will have a severely devastating effect and the Mekong Delta, Vietnam ’s largest rice granary, will be the hardest hit area in the country.

“Climate change is already having a serious effect on cities across Asia and will become even more brutal in the future,” said Kim Carstensen, the head of the WWF’s Global Climate Initiative. “These cities are vulnerable and need urgent help to adapt, so they can protect the lives of millions of their citizens,” he added.

In an effort to prevent global warming, the WWF has launched a Vote Earth campaign in which it calls on people worldwide to send a message asking the national leaders who will attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen , Denmark , to take positive action to prevent climate change through the website www.earthhour.org.vn .

The Vietnamese Government has earmarked more than 1.96 trillion VND (109.76 million USD) to implement a national programme to cope with climate change during the 2009-2015 period./.