OCEANS DAY AT COPENHAGEN December 14, 2009 Regional, National and Local Perspectives A Case of Viet Nam Dr. Nguyen CHU HOI Deputy Administrator Vietnam Administration of Seas and Islands

Vietnam is one of the most vulnerable countries due to climate change and sea level rise

Mekong and Red river deltas are projected to be the most seriously inundated Present sea level 1 m sea level rise Southern Viet Nam will lose 12% of land of 17 million people, of whom 14 million people live in the Mekong river delta (Pilgrim, 2007)

 These impacts to Vietnam are a serious challenge to the cause of poverty reduction, millennium development goals, and country’s sustainable development  Most vulnerable areas to CC & SLR are: water resources, agriculture and food security (rice, fish, aquacultural products), public health, deltas, coasts and islands. Impacts of CC & SLR

National and local responses Vietnam has the political commitment from central government and technical assistance from international donors/other countries, but needs investment to address the CC&SLR in practical location. National target program to response climate change (approved by Government in December 2008 with committed funding 50% from Governmental source and remaining from donors. The scenario of CC&SLR in Vietnam has been calculated in this year and approved by the Government.

National and local responses (2) Reviewed and completed some national policies in changed climate regime for coastal, island and marine management such as: Considered mangrove in Governmental Ordinance of Sea-dyke as an unconstructive factor of the national sea-dyke system; Approved in March 2009 Gov. Decree on integrated management of resources and environment of seas and islands; new Law of Marine Resources and Environmental Protection (in preparation); National program on ICM, on developing the MPAs system, on restoring and planting the mangrove,… Developed some new technically tools to integrate the CC&SLR into coastal and marine socio-economic plans, especially for strategic plans such as: coastal zoning, marine spatial planning, sea-use planning, etc. to integrate the watershed, CC&SLR into ICM Conduct some case-studies to apply adaptive measures to CC&SLR: coastal city, local community, re-planning for coastal & island infrastructure, etc.