Erosion eats into river banks in the Mekong Delta (Source: VNA)Can Tho (VNA) – The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Conference on ClimateAction to Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals - Ways Forward took placein the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho on June 19.
Attending the event were nearly 200 delegates from 53 ASEMmember economies, leaders of ministries, sectors and 13 Mekong Deltalocalities.
Discussions focused on development amid climate change,combination between climate action and sustainable development goals, andmeasures to boost Asia-Europe climate partnership toward sustainabledevelopment.
In his opening remarks, Deputy Minister of Natural Resourcesand Environment Le Cong Thanh said that Vietnam is assessed as one of thecountries hardest hit by climate change with the Mekong Delta region one of thethree deltas in the world most vulnerable to sea level rise.
Climate change’s impacts on Vietnam are serious, posing athreat to the achievement of poverty reduction target, millennium developmentgoals and sustainable growth of the country.
Therefore, hosting this year’s conference will create anopportunity for Mekong Delta localities to connect with each other and expandcooperation with the world’s leading experts on climate change, and gain accessto ASEM members’ assistance for climate change adaptation programmes, Thanhstated.
Deputy Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son noted the conferencetook place when the world is exerting efforts to respond to climate change.This is a chance for Vietnam to speed up action to put the Paris Agreement onClimate Change in Agenda 2020 and Agenda 2030 on Climate Change, and joininternational efforts to respond to climate change.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minhstressed the need for the conference to develop a comprehensive approach forcommon understanding and action on doubling efforts for climate change responsetowards sustainable development.
ASEM’s cooperation initiatives and projects on sustainable water management, disasterrisk reduction, energy, food safety, gender equality and poverty reduction needto be connected more closely to put forth comprehensive solutions tosustainable development.
“At the national level, climate action should be included inthe national strategy for sustainable, balanced, equitable and innovativedevelopment,” Minh said.
Developed members of ASEM should provide specific financialsupport for developing members vulnerable to climate change, he emphasised,adding that it is necessary to promote multi-stakeholder partnerships forclimate action for sustainable development.
He also stressed the importance of establishing a network ofinformation sharing between policymakers, researchers, businesses, localitiesand other stakeholders in this field.
The Deputy PM continued by saying that Vietnam highly valuesthe strategic partnerships on climate change and the effective cooperation andassistance programmes on financing and technology transfer that many ASEMmembers have extended for Vietnam.
These programmes have effectively assisted the nation insustainable water resources management, enhancement of climate changemonitoring and adaptation capacity, response to sea level rise and widespreadsaline intrusion in the Lower Mekong River Basin. These have also improvedVietnam’s capacity to contribute to the joint endeavours by the internationalcommunity, he added.
The conference is one of the most important inter-regionalevents on climate change and the only one of ASEM 2018 hosted by Vietnam. It isan initiative of Vietnam which was approved at the 13th ASEM MinisterialMeeting last November in Myanmar and won support and sponsorship from manycountries, including Australia, Denmark, Myanmar, Finland, the Netherlands andItaly.-VNA
VNA
