Drought caused by climate change has become a serious problem for Vietnam in recent years. (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Climate risk management, covering climate risk insurance, isplaying an increasingly important role in preventing and mitigating lossescaused by climate change, experts said at a workshop in Hanoi on April 8.
PhamHuu Due – head of the National Assembly Office’s bureau of science, technology,and environment – pointed out the increased frequency of climate change-relatednatural disasters which have threatened the lives and livelihoods of manypeople, especially those in poorer communities.
Therefore,climate change combat requires more solutions on state management, he said,suggesting enhancing the public’s climate change adaptation capacity and promotinginternational cooperation in this regard.
VuThi Bich Hop, Chairwoman of the Network of Vietnamese Non-GovernmentalOrganisations and Climate Change (VNGO&CC), said the impacts of climate changeare becoming more intense, causing great losses to people, natural resources,and socio-economic activities in Vietnam.
Thescale of damage has increased four-fold since 1992, she said, warning thatrisks and extreme weather events like droughts, flooding and typhoons will onlyincrease in the future.
Accordingto Hop, natural disasters killed more than 13,000 people in Vietnam and causedproperty losses worth over 6.4 billion USD between 1995 and 2016.
Giventhis, she suggested improving skills and measures to implement climate changeadaptation activities for local officials; supporting localities in settingforth climate change adaptation plans with the participation of authorities,agencies, and residents; and integrating climate change adaptation activitiesinto local socio-economic development plans.
Vietnamranked sixth on the Global Climate Risk Index 2019, which was released at the 24th Conference of the Parties tothe United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP24) in Poland inDecember 2018.
The increased economic losses due to climatechange have hindered countries’ efforts in sustainable development and loweredtheir credit rankings, and may lead to less investment in the time to come in theseareas, participants said. –VNA
VNA
