The event was jointly organised bythe Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee (VFF) and the NordicAssistance to Vietnam (NAV).
Participants discussedpossible methods for adapting to environmental change as well asmeasures to develop a network of cooperation between religious groupsand relevant agencies.
A number of videos were shownto highlight the impact of climate change around the world and inVietnam in particular, one of the countries the most seriouslyaffected by climate change over the last five decades.
The Vice Chairman of the VFF Central Committee, Le Ba Trinh, saidclimate change was a reality, as demonstrated by the Earth’s risingtemperature, melting ice caps, rising sea levels, and extreme weatherevents, such as floods, tsunamis, earthquakes and droughts.
Statistics show that in recent years natural disasters, such asfloods, landslides, droughts, and salt intrusion, have left over 9,000Vietnamese people dead or missing, and caused a loss of 1.5 percent inthe gross domestic product (GDP) each year.
Vietnam is expected to have to resettle 135,000 households in 2015.By 2050, up to 1 million residents of the Mekong Delta provinces, thecountry’s most vulnerable region, will have to migrate to other areasdue to constant floods and droughts.
In response toclimate change, the Communist Party of Vietnam and State have developedpolicies and strategies to mobilise financial resources.
Vietnam joined the UN Kyoto Protocol on mitigating the greenhouse gas emissions in 1997.
The Government of Vietnam has approved a national target programme onclimate change adaptation and has set up a national committee on copingwith environmental change.
Vietnam is pursuing aproactive approach until 2020 and beyond by reducing the risk of naturaldisasters and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, while also utilisingnatural resources in a more effective and sustainable manner, restoringecosystems and protecting biodiversity in a bid to transition towards agreen economy.-VNA