Hoi An ancient town is flooded in the stormy season 2020.

One scenario suggests that if sea level rises 1 meter, 10 to 12% of Vietnam’s population will be affected and GDP growth will decrease 10%.

Climate change research shows that Vietnam’s climate has changed visibly. The annual average temperature has increased 0.5 ºC in the last 5 decades. Droughts, extreme heat, and storms happens more frequently, causing substantial losses of human lives, property, and infrastructure.

Vietnam signed the Climate Convention on June 11, 1992 and the Kyoto Protocol on December 3, 1998. It has launched a series of climate change programs, including the Climate Change Response and Green Growth Program from 2016-2020, an action plan to implement the Paris Agreement, and a greenhouse gas emission and carbon emission trading management project.

Climate change response has been addressed in the Law on Natural Disaster Prevention, the Law on Irrigation, the Law on Natural Resources, the Law on Energy Efficiency, and the Law on Environmental Protection.

Tăng Thế Cường, Director of the Department of Climate Change of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, said: “Localities have developed and updated their action plans on climate change response. 50 localities have issued action plans for carrying out the Paris Agreement according to the Prime Minister’s directive. They also have devised specific plans for local climate issues.”

Vietnam has invested in natural disaster forecast capacity and equipment. From 2011 to 2016, Vietnam upgraded and built 69 hydro-meteorological centers, 353 rain calculators, 22 salt calculators, and 7 provincial hydro-meteorological observation towers. The Prime Minister has called for 1 billion trees to be planted in the next 5 years. Vietnam plans to build a modern natural resource monitoring system by 2030 and a green, sustainable economy.