HCM City drafts 10-year climate change response plan

The HCM City Department of Natural Resources and Environment recently held a seminar on climate change response policies 2017-2020 and the new draft plan for the 2021-2030 period.

Experts praised authorities’ efforts on reducing the amount of CO2 by one tonne between 2017 and 2019.

According to a representative of the city's Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, previous plans were relatively “ambitious”. They cost a significant amount of capital resources but did not generate successful results.

While it is essential to make a plan based on the government’s vision, HCM City needs to evaluate the quality of its human and infrastructure resources and get an update on global climate change activities before drafting a specific plan, she said.

The deputy head of Scientific Management under the city's Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Huynh Luu Trung Phung, said he was concerned that since the 10-year plan’s mission is relatively broad, it would be challenging to determine detailed goals and products that meet society’s actual needs.

This occurred in a case in which authorities were once asked to research the impact of climate change on the agricultural sector. As the mission given was too broad to be carried out, they had a difficult time, Phung said, stressing the importance of setting realistic goals.

Collaboration

A representative of the HCM City's Department of Construction said the department would strive to complete the seven missions given by the city People’s Committee in accordance with the Paris Agreement on climate change.

The department will collaborate with the World Bank and Asian Development Bank to offer solutions on management of flooding in HCM City.

According to the deputy director of the HCM City Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Nguyen Thi Thanh My, collaboration among authorities are important to tackle the impact of climate change.

Though authorities have become more aware of the matter over the past few years, they have not considered a response to climate change as an essential task, she said.

HCM City is currently working on a specific climate change response plan to be carried out between 2021 and 2030, with a vision to 2050.

The HCM City Department of Natural Resources and Environment was appointed to take the leading role in this task, My said, suggesting that authorities need to be more active.

Setting specific goals every three to five years, together with evaluation criteria, is required as well.