IUCN praised for increasing Vietnam’s climate change adaptation
Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Chu Pham Ngoc Hien has appreciated efforts made by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in helping Vietnam increase its climate change adaptation.
Hien made the remark at a working session between his ministry and the IUCN in Hanoi on August 26 to seek cooperation for the continued implementation of the union-funded regional projects, which support people in coastal areas in improving the ecosystem in the face of climate change.
He affirmed the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment will solve difficulties for the IUCN in implementing its small-scale projects, adding that the Vietnam Administration of Seas and Islands (VASI) will serve as a coordinator for specific cooperation between the two sides.
According to an IUCN representative, the project “Building Resilience to Climate Change Impact-Coastal Southeast Asia” (BCR), which started in September 2011, has been implemented in the Mekong Delta provinces of Soc Trang, Ben Tre and Kien Giang and Can Gio district in Ho Chi Minh City.
In 2012, the project helped these localities train 79 state officials on conducting vulnerability assessment.
In the coming time, within the framework of the project, the IUCN will sign cooperation agreements with the localities to provide local residents with effective activities to cope with climate change.
The union plans to organise a meeting of the regional Steering Committee on the future mangrove initiative in Quang Nam province in September, and a regional forum on coastal areas in Soc Trang province in October.