Desktop Study on - Regional Climate Change Adaptation ...

Assessment of Capacity Gaps and Needs of South East Asia Countries
in Addressing Impacts, Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Variability and Climate Change
Figure 9: Viet Nam location map
(UNdata, 2009b)
Lao PDR •
Thailand •
with a GDP of 71174 million US$ (UN data, 2009),
but has recently made spectacular progress in terms
of both economic growth and poverty reduction.
The official poverty rate has fallen from 58.1% in
1993, to 16% in 2006. The high growth and rapid
poverty reduction were accompanied by only very
modest increases in inequality. The Gini coefficient,
for example, rose from 0.34 to 0.37 between 1993
and 2004 and declined to 0.36 in 2006 (World Bank,
2008).
Climate Risks
Cambodia •
• China
• Viet Nam
Current Climatic Conditions
Viet Nam has a tropical monsoon climate, although
regional climate variations are considerable due to
the length of the country and the diverse topography,
which affects the rainfall distribution, with frequent
tropical cyclones affecting mainly the Northern and
Central regions. The country is generally divided
into three regions: North, Central, and South, and
annual mean temperature in the different regions
ranges from 8 to 29 °C. The monthly mean of the
coldest month is about 13 - 20 °C in the North, while
in the South, it is 20 -2 8 °C. Annual rainfalls range
from 600mm to 5,000 mm, with as much as 90 %
of rainfall concentrated in the rainy season (ADPC,
2003; Chaudhry and Ruysschaert, 2007).
Viet Nam has a long history of coping with climatic
variability and natural disasters. For the last 40
years climate has experienced some changes,
such as an observed annual temperature rise of
0.1 °C per decade between 1931 and 2000, and
of 0.5 - 0.7 °C in the last 50 years (1958 – 2007).
The localized intensity and unpredictability of the
rainfall has increased, although the annual volume
has remained stable, causing severe floods. There
have been more droughts in the south in recent
years, which have tended to last longer. On average
for the whole country, the rainfall over the past 50
years decreased by about 2%. The sea level has
risen between 2.5 to 3.0 cm per decade in the last
50 years, but with regional variations. Between 1993
and 2008, it has risen at a rate of 3 mm/year, which
is comparable to the global tendency, according to
the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment
(MoNRE, 2009). Typhoons have reduced in number
in the last four decades, but they have become more
intense and are tracking southwards. El Niño/La
Niña weather events have become more intense in
the last 50 years, causing more typhoons, floods and
droughts (Oxfam, 2008).
In Viet Nam, the most destructive disasters are
typhoons, storms and whirlwinds as well as floods,
flash floods, landslides, storm surge and salinity
intrusion. The midland and coastal areas in the
North, the Central Provinces and the South are the
most affected areas by flash floods and whirlwind.
Due to its close location to the typhoon center of
the South China Sea, on an average it is hit by 4 to
6 typhoons per year. In the recent years, there have
been more typhoons with higher intensity affecting
the country. They have also moved towards Southern
latitude. Typhoons raise sea levels and send storm
surges up estuaries to inundate valuable croplands.
Furthermore, the most severe erosion-affected
areas are the downstream banks of the Red River,
the Tien and the Hau Rivers, and along the entire
coastline of Viet Nam. Although the country is in the
tropical region and enjoys an abundance of water
resources, drought and forest fires are a risk that
impacts the South Central Region, Highlands, and
the coastal areas of Quang Tri, Ninh Thuan, and Binh
Thuan Provinces, which will undergo desertification
because of lack of water (ADPC, 2003). Table 4
presents statistical details on the situation of
natural disasters in Viet Nam. It highlights that
people affected by the top five natural disasters
between 1980 and 2009 were hit by storms, namely
70%, of all the people affected (see Figure 10). The
remaining 30% are affected by floods. When all the
natural disasters occurring between 1980 and 2009
in Viet Nam are considered, storms are reported to
have more impacts. They account for most of the
events (73 in number), affecting the highest number
of people (59%, compared to 32% affected by floods
33