The WWF also warned that climate change would cause widespread devastation in the region with the worst occurring in the Mekong Delta, the biggest granary of Vietnam.

According to Kim Carstensen, head of the WWF’s Global Climate Initiative, climate change is having serious effects on many cities in Asia and continues to be more dangerous in the future. Therefore, these cities need urgent help to protect the lives of millions of their citizens.

In an effort to prevent global warming, the WWF has launched a Vote Earth campaign calling on people worldwide to send an urgent message via the website www.earthhour.org.vn to national leaders who will attend the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Summit in Denmark to discuss effective response measures.

The Vietnamese Government has allocated an amount of VND1,960 billion for implementation of a national programme of response to climate change during the 2009-2015 period.

The WWF is one of the biggest nature protection organisations, with a network of operation in more than 100 countries over the world.