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| Lessons learned from the strategic mainstreaming of ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) was a good foundation for Việt Nam to prepare for climate change. — Photo tuoitre.vn |
HÀ NỘI — Lessons learned from the strategic mainstreaming of ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) was a good foundation for Việt Nam to prepare for climate change, according to Dr. Nguyễn Thế Chinh from the Natural Resources and Environment Strategic Institute.
Dr Chinh was speaking on Tuesday at a workshop reviewing a project on the subject. It was held by the Institute for Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment in collaboration with the German Development Co-operation Agency. The event marked more than three years of productive collaboration.
The Euro 4-million (US$4.9 million) project funded by the German Society for International Co-operation (GIZ) worked with the Vietnamese Government to mainstream ecosystem-based measures into pilot models in Hà Tĩnh and Quảng Bình provinces.
“After three years of implementation, the project evaluated the vulnerable ecological situation in Hà Tĩnh and Quảng Bình provinces,” Chinh said.
“The project also helped to set up a national plan of land use for 2016-2020, and an updated action plan for climate change preparedness until 2020 in the provinces,” he added.
The EbA project aims to support efforts in the strategic mainstreaming of ecosystem-based approaches into national policies on climate change adaptation, land-use and development planning.
EbA has been identified as an effective adaptation measure given that Việt Nam is heavily affected by the adverse effects of climate change.
Climate change vulnerability assessments have been conducted at both provincial and commune levels to introduce appropriate EbA solutions for implementation in the selected provinces.
From 2016, the project began pilot EbA activities in coastal areas suffering erosion and sand movement in Quảng Bình Province by planting and rehabilitating coastal forests in combination with livelihood activities, such as cattle-raising, fresh- water fish farming, and vegetable cultivation.
In Hà Tĩnh, the project piloted EbA approaches in a mountain ecosystem under drought conditions, enriching natural forest by using indigenous plants, oranges and pineapples grown in contour lines – plus bee-raising.
The two areas selected for the pilot EbA approaches shared common characteristics. Firstly, the communities in both areas showed real enthusiasm to participate; and secondly, they lived in areas suffering from difficult economic conditions, with limited access to the technologies required for agricultural production.
Strengthening the capacity of stakeholders at central and local levels was a key aspect of the project.
To improve knowledge and the sharing of information on EbA measures and activities, the project organised a series of training workshops on mainstreaming them into the development planning process.
The project also focused on mainstreaming EbA into the climate-change-adaptation legal framework by supporting Government agencies. For example, the Department of Land Management will implement strategic environmental assessments to collect inputs for revising national land-use planning for 2016-2020; the Department for Planning Management will mainstream EbA and climate-change issues into developing the Planning Law; and the departments of Natural Resources and Environment of Hà Tĩnh and Quảng Bình will mainstream EbA into the updated Provincial Climate Change Action Plans to 2020.
Ivo Litzenberg, GIZ expert, said after three years of implementation, the two provinces had cleaner water resources and a healthier ecological system which was less vulnerable to climate-change impacts.
Land erosion was also reduced, which helped local people produce rice crops on slopes, said Litzenberg.
The project had also helped local people understand the importance of production thast was less harmful to ecological systems, he said.
Meanwhile, according to Phan Lam Sơn, deputy head of Hà Tĩnh Province’s Natural Resources and Environment Department, the project helped people become aware of main reasons for climate change, such as improper use of natural resources, waste discharge and polluting the environment.
Việt Nam was assessed as one of nations worst affected by climate change.
If the sea water level rise by one metre, 40 per cent of land area in Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta, 11 per cent of land in the Hồng Delta, and 3 per cent of land areas along other coastal regions would be submerged.
About 10-12 per cent of population would be affected and losses would account for 10 per cent of the country’s GDP, said experts.
Understanding the consequences, the Government has issued several legal documents to deal with the situation, including a National Programme on Climate Change Preparedness, National Strategy on Climate Changes, National Strategy on Natural Calamity Reduction by 2020. — VNS
Fifth Greater Mekong Subregion Environment Ministers’ Meeting
Chiang Mai, Thailand 30 January to 1 February 2018
Every 3 years the environment ministers from the six Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) countries gather to review progress and set the agenda for environmental cooperation in the subregion under the GMS Economic Cooperation Program. Tiếp tục đọc “Fifth Greater Mekong Subregion Environment Ministers’ Meeting”
Bigger, Faster Avalanches, Triggered by Climate Change
A deadly 2016 glacier collapse in Tibet surpassed scientists’ expectations — until it happened again. They worry it’s only the beginning.
A satellite image showing the aftermath of two avalanches in western Tibet in 2016, when two glaciers on the Aru range collapsed and spread across five miles. Researchers say this unusual event was due to climate change.
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When 247 million cubic feet of snow and ice collapsed off a glacier in the dry, mountainous region of western Tibet in 2016, the roiling mass took with it nine human lives and hundreds of animals, spreading more than five miles in three minutes at speeds of nearly 200 miles per hour. The event surprised scientists, who had seen a collapse that big and that fast only once before.
Tiếp tục đọc “Bigger, Faster Avalanches, Triggered by Climate Change”
Last three years were hottest on record, says UN weather agency
Latest update : 2018-01-18
5 điểm chính về Hội nghị Thượng đỉnh Hợp tác Lan Thương – MêKông
English: Five things to know about the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation summit
TĐH: Chúng ta chưa hề được nghe các thảo luận của báo chí trong nước về Kế hoạch năm năm của Trung Quốc. Nên tự hỏi, liệu Việt Nam sẽ có cuộc thảo luận công khai về kế hoạch này, hay là bất cứ ai tham dự hội nghị LMC sẽ chỉ đơn giản chấp nhận kế hoạch thay mặt cho Việt Nam?
Kế hoạch phát triển năm năm, bao gồm cả việc xây dựng các đập thủy điện, dự kiến sẽ là chương trình được ưu tiên thảo luận hàng đầu tại hội nghị các quốc gia sông MêKông tại Campuchia.
Khi Trung Quốc và lãnh đạo các quốc gia dọc sông MêKông họp tại hội nghị thượng đỉnh Hợp tác MêKông – Thái Lan tại Cam-pu-chia, thiết lập kế hoạch phát triển 5 năm dự kiến sẽ là mục hàng đầu của chương trình nghị sự, bao gồm việc xây dựng các đập thủy điện và các dự án khác cho khu vực – và chỉ ra tầm quan trọng về kế hoạch vành đai và con đường đầy tham vọng của Trung Quốc. Tiếp tục đọc “5 điểm chính về Hội nghị Thượng đỉnh Hợp tác Lan Thương – MêKông”
First global atlas of the bacteria living in your dirt (soil)
Researchers have compiled a ‘most wanted’ list of around 500 key bacterial species that are both common and abundant worldwide
- Date: January 18, 2018
- Source: University of Colorado at Boulder
- Summary:
- What lives in your dirt? Researchers are one step closer to finding out after compiling the first global atlas of soil bacterial communities and identifying a group of around 500 key species that are both common and abundant worldwide.
Southeast Asia Climate-Smart Villages AR4D sites: 2016 Inventory
More Vietnamese households adopt integrated aquaculture systems as a climate-smart practice
Coastal communities are learning about the benefits of climate-smart aquaculture and integrated coastal farming systems. More quantitative evidence of these practices is now being documented.
Many coastal communities in Vietnam’s North and North Central Coast (NNCC), one of the poorest regions in the country, rely on coastal aquaculture, particularly integrated aquaculture farming systems for their livelihoods and sustenance. However, climate change and its impacts have negatively affected coastal aquaculture recently by increasing the risks of disease outbreaks and crop failures.
For example, tiger shrimp, the major culture species of many farms in the NNCC, are sensitive to changes in the climate and the environment, such as the salinity level of the water. The shrimp crops are at high risk for failure when the salinity level of cultured pond drops below five parts per thousand (ppt). For farmers, depending solely on one type of crop could therefore be disastrous, especially in the context of increased extreme weather events. Integrated aquaculture systems ensure farmers have more diverse crops on which to depend and earn stable income to enhance their adaptive and resilient capacity to cope with climate change impacts. Tiếp tục đọc “More Vietnamese households adopt integrated aquaculture systems as a climate-smart practice”
Earthworm numbers dwindle, threatening soil health
DW_Earthworms help recuperate soil and enrich it with much needed minerals. But environmentalists are concerned as earthworms have come under threat from intensive use of manure and acidic soil.
Groundwater in the Mekong River Basin
3.11. Vietnam
• Salinization of groundwater in the coastal area
• Ammonium contamination in groundwater
• Groundwater level drops in Hanoi (-1 m/yr, total 30 m drop), Ho Chi Minh City (total 30 m), and in many other places in the Mekong River Basin; groundwater levels also decreased greatly.
• Land subsidence in Hanoi because of over-extraction
• High and increasing amount of arsenic in groundwater
Download full report http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0024/002436/243616E.pdf
Mekong Delta calls for over $340 million investment in tourism and infrastructure
vietnamnet.vn_Localities in the Mekong Delta region have called for investment in 33 projects in the groups of real estate and tourism, with a total investment of nearly VND7.8 trillion (US$343.2 million), along with 45 other projects related to industry, agriculture, processing and logistics infrastructure development with a total capital of VND150 trillion (US$6.6 billion).
Tourism development in the Mekong Delta has not been on a par with its potential.
The figures were introduced at the 5th Annual Mekong Delta Investment Forum (MekongInvest) 2017, hosted by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) – Can Tho branch, in collaboration with Mekong Promotion Club (Mekong PC), gathering centres for trade, investment and tourism promotion of 13 Mekong Delta provinces, on October 25. Tiếp tục đọc “Mekong Delta calls for over $340 million investment in tourism and infrastructure”
Singapore has declared 2018 the year of climate action—so why are its banks still funding coal?
eco-business_2018 is officially the year of climate action in Singapore, and yet the country’s powerful banks are bankrolling huge, greenhouse gas-producing coal-fired power stations in Asia Pacific, a report has found.
DBS is co-financing four 1200 MW coal-fired power plants in Vietnam—Nam Dinh 1, Nghi Son 2, Vinh Tan 4 and Vung Ang 2—and is a financial adviser for a number of planned coal-fired projects in Indonesia including the Jawa-6, Jawa-9 and Jawa-10 plants.
Sông Mekong sẽ là Biển Đông thứ hai?
tuoitre.vn TTO – Kế hoạch 5 năm phát triển sông Mekong thuộc cơ chế Hợp tác Mekong – Lan Thương (LMC) do Trung Quốc khởi xướng đang gây lo ngại trong giới chuyên gia, đặc biệt là về động cơ chính trị của Bắc Kinh.
Người dân đánh bắt cá trên đoạn sông Mekong chảy qua thủ đô Vientiane của Lào – Ảnh: AFP
Tháng 12-2017, ngoại trưởng 6 nước khu vực sông Mekong nhóm họp ở thành phố Đại Lý thuộc tỉnh Vân Nam (Trung Quốc) để thông qua đề cương kế hoạch 5 năm phát triển dòng sông này. Dự kiến các nhà lãnh đạo sẽ chốt lại đề xuất trong cuộc họp dự kiến diễn ra cuối tháng 1-2018 ở Campuchia. Tiếp tục đọc “Sông Mekong sẽ là Biển Đông thứ hai?”
The Mekong river under THREAT
Milton Osborne
Even if no dams are built on the mainstream below China, the cascade to which it is committed will ultimately have serious effects on the functioning of the Mekong once the dams are used to control the river’s flow. This will be the case because the cascade will:
• alter the hydrology of the river and so the current ‘flood pulse’, the regular rise and fall of the river on an annual basis which plays an essential part in the timing of spawning and the migration pattern. This will be particularly important in relation to the Tonle Sap in Cambodia, but will have an effect throughout the river’s course;
• block the flow of sediment down the river which plays a vital part both in depositing nutrients on the agricultural regions flooded by the river and also as a trigger for fish migration — at present well over 50% of the river’s sediment comes from China;
• at least initially cause problems by restricting the amount of flooding that takes place most importantly in Cambodia and Vietnam; and
• lead to the erosion of river banks.
So China’s dam-building plans are worrying enough, but the proposed new mainstream dams would pose even more serious concerns. Those built at sites higher upstream would cause the least damage to fish stocks, but if, as currently seems possible, the most likely dams to be built would be at Don Sahong and Sambor the costs to fish stocks could be very serious. This is because unanimous expert opinion judges that there are no ways to mitigate the blocking of fish migration that would occur if these dams are constructed. None of the suggested possible forms of mitigation — fish ladders, fish lifts, and alternative fish-passages — are feasible for the species of fish in the Mekong and the very large biomass that is involved in their migratory pattern. Fish ladders were tried and failed at the Pak Mun dam on one of the Mekong’s tributaries in Thailand in the 1990s. Tiếp tục đọc “The Mekong river under THREAT”
Israel’s agriculture minister leads prayers for water
WHAT DO YOU DO IF YOUR COUNTRY IS FACING WATER SHORTAGES EXACERBATED BY CLIMATE CHANGE? PRAY, APPARENTLY — ISRAEL’S AGRICULTURE MINISTER LEADS PRAYERS FOR WATER
CVD 