Vietnam needs 368 billion USD to adapt to climate change

The World Bank recommends that Vietnam take strong action in areas that emit a lot of greenhouse gases such as energy, transport, agriculture, processing and manufacturing industries.

Overview of the launch event "Vietnam country climate and development report" by the World Bank (WB)

According to the World Bank's Country Report on Climate and Development for Vietnam, Vietnam is among the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change. The reason is because of the 3,260 km long coastline and many low-lying areas, scattered throughout the country.

According to the report, Vietnam will lose about 10 billion USD in 2020, equivalent to 3.2% of GDP, due to climate impacts. The total economic costs caused by climate change could reach 523 billion USD by 2050. More than 70% of the land area of some provinces and cities could be flooded within the next 80 years.

The areas most affected include: Urban areas and industrial zones, especially in and around HCMC; Mekong Delta, home to 18 million people.

According to the World Bank's Research Group, Vietnam's contribution to the total global greenhouse gas emissions is only 0.8%. However, the rapid economic growth in the past time has pushed the greenhouse gas emissions per capita to increase fourfold in the past 20 years (from 0.79 tons of CO2 in 2000 to 3.81 tons of CO2 in 2018).

This growth rate is the fastest in the world - The World Bank's report highlights.

Ms. Manuela Ferro, World Bank Vice President in charge of East Asia and the Pacific shared: "Vietnam must devote great resources to protecting the country's largest city, Ho Chi Minh City, its low-lying coastline and the Mekong Delta from the impacts of climate change".

In addition, in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as well as fulfill the commitment of net carbon emissions to 'zero' by 2030, Ms. Ferro recommended that Vietnam take strong action in areas that emit a lot of greenhouse gases such as greenhouse gases, energy, transport, agriculture and processing and manufacturing industries; help reduce the damage of climate change to trade and investment.

Currently, Vietnam is committed to ending deforestation by 2030, reducing methane emissions by 30%, and ending all investments in new coal power generation, scaling up renewable energy deployment, and phasing out coal power in the 2040s.

Ms. Carolyn Turk, WB Country Director for Vietnam, spoke at the announcement ceremony.

To help Vietnam achieve these ambitious goals, the World Bank's Country Report on Climate and Development for Vietnam proposes solutions in two aspects: Increasing resilience to climate impacts, and gradually reducing carbon-intensive energy sources in the economy.

The WB also proposes five priority policy packages. First, issue a regional program for the Mekong Delta, which contributes 50% of rice production and a third of the country's agricultural GDP. This area currently faces many risks such as coastal erosion, riverbanks, sea level rise and saltwater intrusion.

Some specific policies, suggested by the World Bank, include limiting sand mining and groundwater exploitation, investing in more infrastructure, and supporting people's livelihoods.

Second, promulgate an integrated plan to protect coastal urban areas and connect traffic in the vicinity. The plan includes: upgrading road and energy systems, strengthening early warning and weather risk management systems.

Third, issue a plan to reduce air pollution around the Hanoi area, where fine dust concentration is continuously increasing and air quality is poor above at least 5 times the limit according to the guidelines of the World Health Organization in more than half the time from 2018 to 2021.

Fourth, accelerate the transition to renewable energy by encouraging the private sector to invest in increasing grid capacity and realize energy saving.

Fifth, research social security policies to offset the economic impacts that climate solutions may have on people. Funding can come from carbon tax revenue.

Mangrove development is one of the solutions to adapt to climate change.

In terms of costs, the World Bank Report estimates the value of additional investment in climate change adaptation and mitigation measures between now and 2040 at up to 6.8% of Vietnam's GDP per year, equivalent to about 368 billion USD.

Without timely adaptation measures, climate change could put 1 million Vietnamese people in extreme poverty by 2030, according to the World Bank.

Alfonso Garcia Mora, Vice President of the Asia-Pacific region of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), emphasized: "Vietnam has two goals: becoming a high-income country and a net carbon emitter. zero in the next 30 years. To do that, Vietnam must mobilize a large amount of private capital."

Along with researching and issuing carbon taxes or regulations related to emissions trading, Mr. Mora recommended that Vietnam "greenify the financial sector, promote green growth projects in many fields". According to him, this will be the key for Vietnam to achieve the "dual goals" of development and climate.

Source: Bao Thang/ nongnghiep.vn