(VOVworld)- Vietnamese and foreign experts and officials met on Thursday in Hanoi to discuss community-based adaptations to climate change. As a  vulnerable nation, Vietnam was an early signatory to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol. In 2009, the Vietnamese government approved a project to raise community awareness of the risks of natural disasters, which was carried out in 6,000 communes. Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha told VOV: “The Prime Minister has approved a national strategy for climate change and a vision for the next 100 years. This move reflects Vietnam’s commitment and efforts to respond to climate change. Vietnam aims to build a community, which is able to respond effectively to climate change, be environmentally-friendly and aware of on-site responses.

Participants at the conference, which ends on Saturday, will share their experiences in disaster management, adapting to change and assisting the poor and the  most vulnerable. The international delegates will make fact-finding tours of areas hardest hit by natural disasters in Vietnam.