USAID helps Vietnam cushion climate change impacts
The US would continue working with Vietnam to lessen growingly adverse impacts of climate change, according to Todd Raymond Johnson, who is Forest and Climate Change advisor, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) Asia’s Office of Technical Services.
In a recent interview with the Vietnam News Agency on the sidelines of a media training course in the northern province of Nam Dinh, Todd said the US and Vietnam announced their partnership on climate change during President Barack Obama’s trip to Vietnam in May.
The partnership will allow cooperative activities to enable the Mekong River and Red River deltas to boost their adaptation capability and reduce their vulnerability against impacts of climate change.
It will support joint efforts to mitigate disaster risks and improve preparedness and response to disasters, with early warning systems being assisted for communities that are vulnerable to climate change.
The partnership will lay the groundwork for the two countries to proceed with their connectivity in this field in a wider manner, according to the official.
According to Todd, the Vietnamese government and the US will continue to have discussions to determine priority issues in line with new situation for cooperation and effectively actualise these new priorities.
The USAID is assisting Vietnam to turn the Strategy for Green Growth in Vietnam into real actions at national, provincial and district levels.
Vietnam is one of the countries suffering most severe impacts of climate change such as rising temperature, drought, flood, rising sea level, saltwater intrusion, and the increasing number of storms, which have been threatening food security, livelihoods and lives of millions of its people.