The Institute for Hydrometeorology and Environment will finalize the “script” on climate change later this March, said the institute’s director, Dr. Tran Thuc, at a workshop on climate change in Hanoi on March 16.

In the past 50 years, the sea level in Vietnam rose by 50cm.

Dr. Thuc said the institute will submit the script to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for approval before making public the script in early April 2009.

Vietnam has the coast of over 3,260km. Once the sea level rises, many coastal cities and provinces will be hit. According to international experts, the Mekong River Delta and the Red River Delta, the two rice baskets in Vietnam, will suffer serious consequences.

In the past 50 years, the sea level in Vietnam rose by 50cm. The rainfall also increased in the rainy season and reduced in the dry season. Vietnam also suffered many storms, serious floods, and droughts.

It is forecast that by 2100, the sea level will rise by one metre and the temperature will increase by three degrees Celsius. If the sea level rises by one metre, 10% of the Vietnamese population will be affected. Losses will be equivalent to 10% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and around 40,000sq.km of coastal delta will be flooded annually.

Dr. Tran Thuc said it is very important to have an accurate script about temperature, rainfall, the number of hot days, and the sea rise levels in the coming year. Based on this script, ministries and agencies can make research and evaluations about the impacts of climate changes on their sectors.

He said the script is made based on available research works about climate change. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment will continue its research to have more accurate scripts on 2010 and 2015.

In the next four years, the US-based Rockefeller Foundation will assist Asian cities, which are prone to the impacts of climate change, to build tools, and measures to cope with climate change, reduce poverty, and control the increasing urbanization.

This program is conducted in Vietnam, Thailand, India, and Indonesia. Three cities in Vietnam have been chosen for this program, including the Mekong Delta City of Can Tho, the central city of Da Nang, and the central city of Quy Nhon.

Khoi Nguyen