Speaking at the third world climate change conference in Geneva on September 4, Nguyen Van Duc, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, said this end the Vietnamese Government has approved the National Target Programme to Respond to Climate Change and approved publication ‘Climate Change Scenarios toward 2100 for Vietnam’.

Vietnam will continue to closely cooperate with the World Meteorology Organisation and other international organisations to address climate change, he added.

According to the official, the annual average temperature in Vietnam has increased by about 0.5-0.7 degrees centigrade in the last 50 years, and sea levels have increased by about 20cm at the same time.

Climate change has created natural disasters, such as typhoons, storms, floods and droughts, and such disasters are becoming increasingly severe in the Southeast Asian country.

Mr Duc also cited the World Bank’s Report in 2007 as saying that Vietnam is one of the five countries which will be most affected by climate change due to its long coastlines, high density of population and economic activity in coastal areas and a heavy reliance on agriculture, natural resources and forestry.

The third world climate conference, themed “Better climate information for a better future”, took place from August 31 to September 4.