HANOI, VIETNAM: Vietnam will spend $115 million over the next six years to prepare for the impact of global warming, which international studies have shown could severely damage the country's long coast and low-lying river deltas.
The money will be used to "assess the impact of global warming on Vietnam and map out a plan of action," Tuesday's (13 Jan) Youth newspaper quoted Nguyen Van Duc, the vice minister of natural resources and environment, as saying.
Authorities will use the money to devise plans aimed at protecting Vietnam's economy from potential environmental damage.
The World Bank estimated that 10.8% of Vietnam's 86 million people could be displaced if global warming caused just a 3-foot (1-meter) rise in sea levels, which could cause severe damage in the southern Mekong Delta and the Red River Delta in the north.
A report by the bank last year said Vietnam was one of 10 countries that could experience the most serious damage from global warming, along with Egypt, Mauritania, Suriname, Guyana, French Guiana, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, the Bahamas and Benin.
A recent report from Oxfam warned global climate change could reverse the remarkable economic gains made by Vietnam over the last two decades.
Rising sea-levels, more intense typhoons, higher temperatures and increased flooding and drought unleashed by global warming threaten to drag millions of Vietnamese people back into poverty, said Oxfam, which has started initiatives to help Vietnam's poor deal with the possible impacts. (AP)
MySinchew 2009.01.14
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