Hà Nội selected to be climate resilient city

The handbook is the brainchild of the WB’s Division for Sustainable Development in East Asia and Pacific Region and the United Nations’ International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ ISDR).

Ms. Federica Ranghieri, WB environmentalist and author of the book, said that her handbook aims to inform local policy-makers of climate change and its impacts as well as help them assess risks so that they can work out and implement a system of actions to cope with natural disasters.

The handbook, which has been made public in some East Asian cities, is based on two criteria: riskiness and capacity to implement projects on natural disaster mitigation.

According to Ms. Ranghieri, most of cities in Việt Nam have been impacted by climate change and faced more challenges than other countries.

As Việt Nam has many coastal cities located in low-land areas, sea rise may be a great threat. Even such land-locked cities like Hà Nội have begun to suffer unusual climate phenomena (flood, rainfall and temperature changes) and will face more impacts in the years to come.

After successful trial in Hà Nội, the project on climate resilient city will be popularized across Việt Nam.

The Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology reported that, over the past five decades, in Việt Nam, the mean temperature has increased about 0.7⁰C. The rainfall reducing during dry seasons and increasing during rainy ones, has led to more frequent droughts and floods. 

It is predicted that if the sea level rises by 1m, 10% of Việt Nam’s population will be directly affected and the country’s GDP drops by 10%.

Scientists said that, although discharging a low level of emission, about 0.4% of the world, Việt Nam will continue to use a lot of fossil fuels that cause greenhouse effect.

By Ngọc Vân