Võ Tuấn Nhân, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, spoke to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) about the country’s efforts to adapt to climate change.

What are your assessments on the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) achievements and Việt Nam actions on climate change?

The whole world, particularly developing countries, has felt strong impacts of climate change However, Its impacts are becoming stronger, more complicated and more unpredictable. Fortunately, the world community is joining hands to respond to these negative impacts. This unity is reflected through the adaptation of the Climate Change Act adopted at the 21^st Paris Climate Change Conference by 196 countries and territories. All countries involved are actively preparing further steps to ratify COP 21 documents and to start implementing the agreement from 2021 onward.

In addition, the IPCC’s 6th Assessment report will help the world further understand the impacts of climate change. On the other hand, the reports will help countries determine how to access climate change (CC) impacts and come up with adaptable technology to cope with CC and cut down the greenhouse gas emission in the global scale.

The IPCC’s proposals offer precious information for policy makers in all countries to come up with adaptable policies against climate change in their own countries. At the same time, the IPCC’s report has provided a firm background for scientists to come up with adaptable measures to cope with CC impacts, including those in Việt Nam.

Do you have any comments on Việt Nam’s climate change scenarios and the sea level rise discussed at the conference?

Việt Nam is one of the many developing countries vulnerable to climate change. We are well aware of the importance and great significance of responding to climate change and against natural calamities in the course of sustainable development of the nation. Việt Nam has adopted many policies, strategies and programmes in response to climate change, natural calamity and green growth. We’re confident that these documents will help to protect the country’s sustainable development while joining hands with international friends near and far in protecting the Earth’s climate system.

Regarding our country, developing detailed CC scenarios for all localities is the most important task. We’re basing these on climate change and sea level rise in 2009 and 2012, and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment will try to update those scenarios based on the latest information that has been collected, including the information contained in the AR5 of the IPCC. I’m confident that these updated scenarios will help localities come up with workable measures in the course of restructuring their economy to make it adaptable to the impacts of climate change and greenhouse gas emissions.

What’s the significance of the workshop in the present context of the nation?

The workshop was an occasion for Vietnamese managers, scientists and experts in the field of climate change to exchange their experiences in this field and to discuss how to expand their co-operation during the implementation of Paris Agreement in Việt Nam. I’m confident that the strong co-operation between Vietnamese and foreign scientists will help the Vietnamese government come up good and workable socio-economic development strategies for all domains. — VNS