Vehicles wade through floodwater on Nguyen Van Cu street of Ninh Kieu district, the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho. Tidal surge has seriously flooded many streets in Can Tho since early October (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – As one of thecountries hardest hit by climate change, Vietnam hasbeen actively performing international commitments and exerting efforts to easeits impacts, on official has said.
DeputyMinister of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) Le Cong Thanh made thestatement during a high-level dialogue on climate change which took place inHanoi on October 10.
The event was jointly held by the MoNRE, theUnited Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the Intergovernmental Panel onClimate Change (IPCC), with the participation of experts, managers,policymakers, scientists and businesspeople, among others.
Thanh noted that in addition to the adoption of theParis Agreement on Climate Change, Vietnam has issued guidance for the implementationof the agreement focusing on the UN’s Nationally Determined Contributions(NDCs).
Participants at the dialogue discussedactivities relating to climate change response in Vietnam and seek solutions topromoting cooperation between the scientific community, entrepreneurs,organisations, partners, and individuals committed to adaptation to climatechange.
Vietnam’s contributions to global goals andclimate change response in the fields of agriculture, rural development,natural resources, and the environment, among others, were also introduced atthe event.
A special report by the IPCC on “Global Warmingof 1.5 degrees Celsius”, focusing on the impacts of global warming at 1.5degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas(GHG) emission pathways, was also revealed at the event.
The reportstated that limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius rather than 2degrees Celsius will lessen the considerable impacts to the ecosystem and humanhealth, helping to achieve the UN’s sustainable development goals.
Limiting global warming to the lower figure of1.5 degrees Celsius will require rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes,said IPCC Chairman Hoesung Lee.
With clear benefits to the population andnatural ecosystems worldwide, the aim of a more marginal heat increase will gohand-in-hand with ensuring a more sustainable and equitable society, he noted.
Caitlin Wiesen, UNDP Country Director forVietnam, said the IPCC report noted that severe impacts of climate change couldbe avoidable by limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, but time isrunning out.
Crucial changes are needed – similar to thecomprehensive economic reform that Vietnam started 40 years ago – to reduce GHGemissions and generate green jobs towards a resilient and sustainable society,she stated.
The report highlights a number of climate changeimpacts that could be avoided by limiting global warming to 1.5 degreesCelsius, for instance, by 2100, the global sea level rise would be 10cm lower thana 2 degrees Celsius cap.
By 2100, the likelihood of the Arctic Ocean beingwithout sea ice in the summer would be once per century with global warming of1.5 degrees Celsius, compared with at least once per decade with 2 degreesCelsius. Coral reefs would decline by 70-90 percent with global warming of 1.5degrees Celsius, whereas virtually all (more than 99 percent) would be lostwith the high warming cap.
“One of the key messages that comes out verystrongly from this report is that we are already seeing the consequences of the1 degree Celsius rise in global warming through more extreme weather, risingsea levels and the diminishing Arctic sea ice, among other changes,” saidPanmao Zhai, Co-Chair of IPCC Working Group I.
Global temperatures are currently predicted toreach 1.5 degrees Celsius between 2030-2052, he warned.–VNA
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