Vietnam PM Oks U.K.-funded Climate Change Project

The Vietnamese prime minister has approved the portfolio of the project “Climate Change Cooperation” which is funded by the U.K.’s Department for International Development (DFID). The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) has been empowered to verify, ratify and carry out the project in line with the current rules on use and management of official development assistance (ODA), the government said on its website, giving no more details.  Deputy PM Hoang Trung Hai has also adopted the portfolio of the project “Green action plan for Vietnamese small and medium-sized enterprises” funded by the Swedish government in a bid to cope with the negative impacts of climate change. The impacts of climate change is showing clear signs across Vietnam, including the recent increase in atmospheric temperatures, sea level, droughts, floods, unseasonable storm, which will seriously damage agricultural production, its related processing industries, as well as sea, island areas and ecology, experts said. Vietnam is listed among five hardest-hit countries by climate change. If sea level rises one meter, 5% of the country’s land, 11% of its population and 7% of its agricultural land would be affected with the losses estimated at 10% of GDP.  A number of foreign nations like Japan, Poland, Denmark, the U.S. and Sweden have pledged to support Vietnam in tackling climate and environment issues. The Vietnamese government has so far mobilized more than $1.2 billion in aid from the international community in efforts to tackling the matter. (baodientu.chinhphu.vn Jan 4, Thoi Bao Ngan Hang – Banking Times Jan 5 p3)