France Funds EUR60M for Vietnam’s Climate Change Program

The French Development Agency (AFD) has provided EUR60 million in aid for Vietnam’s support program to respond to climate change (SP-RCC) since 2009, said the French embassy. The information was released at a signing ceremony of an AFD-funded research agreement to support the building of a climate change adaptation plan in the central city of Danang.If successful, the plan will be expanded to other provinces and cities across the country.The research is part of the SP-RCC jointly initiated by the AFD and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in 2009. The JICA earlier funded JPY10 billion for the program.The SP-RCC aims to develop a legal framework to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change in Vietnam.According to AFD statistics, the French agency has financed EUR342.5 million for 12 development projects related to climate change in the 2006-2012 period.Climate change impacts are showing across Vietnam through the increases in atmospheric temperatures, sea level, droughts, floods and irregular storm, which will severely dampen agricultural production, its related processing industries and the environment and ecology system, experts said.Vietnam, one of the most vulnerable countries to the adverse effects of climate change, ranks 23rd among 193 countries in the Climate Change Vulnerability Index (CCVI), as shown in the Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX) by the United Nation. (Ha Noi Moi – new Hanoi Nov 21 p8, tapchikinhtedubao.mpi.gov.vn Nov 19)