World Bank Pledges More Support for Vietnam’s Climate Change Mitigation

The World Bank will continue supporting Vietnam in coping with climate change, the bank’s Vice President and Special Envoy for Climate Change Rachel Kyte said at working sessions with Vietnamese officials in Hanoi on Aug 24-25. During the meetings, the participants discussed different measures to cope with climate change and mitigate consequences, including construction of resilience in vulnerable areas and sectors, bilateral relationship on climate change and green growth. The meetings were part of Ms. Kyte’s visit to Vietnam, where she attended a high-level meeting on climate change with Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai and participated in a Mekong Delta Roundtable on collaboration amongst development partners. Vietnam, being one of five hardest-hit countries by climate change, has received big financial support from foreign organizations including the World Bank for climate change response programs. The Southeast Asian country has received $1 billion from the organizations since 2009, including the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the French Development Agency (AFD), the World Bank, the Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM), the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Climate change is likely to cause Vietnam a loss worth $1.9 billion annually, statistics by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) showed. (Thoi Bao Kinh Te Viet Nam – Vietnam Economic Times Aug 26 p3, worlbank.org Aug 25)