Climate Change and Energy in Vietnam – Is the door open for civil society?

Fes-sustainability – by Ha Thi Quynh Nga

Over the last decades, the discourse on sustainable development has significantly contributed to the formation as well as the strengthening of the civil society in Vietnam. In the mid-1980s, the Government of Vietnam (GoV) introduced Doi Moi (reforms) which moved the economy from centrally-planned to a more market-based approach. This historical milestone has raised the country to a new level of development and transformed its social and economic structures. Foreign investments, bilateral and international trade have grown rapidly but at the same time created multiple development challenges to the country. Vietnam is witnessing serious forest degradation, environmental pollution and loss of natural resources, and the growing threat of climate change poses increasing challenges on Vietnam to sustain its economic achievements. Climate change is undermining efforts in poverty alleviation, making the fight against it even harder and more expensive. According to DARA International’s Climate Vulnerability Monitor 2012, total economic losses due to climate change are estimated to have cost Vietnam 5 per cent of its GDP in net terms in 2010 and are expected to grow to 11 per cent of GDP by 2030 as the country’s vulnerability shifts from severe to acute.
Tiếp tục đọc “Climate Change and Energy in Vietnam – Is the door open for civil society?”

The Fifth Annual South China Sea Conference at CSIS

CSIS
Southeast Asia from Scott Circle – May 28

The Sumitro Chair for Southeast Asia Studies will host CSIS’s fifth annual, full-day South China Sea conference on July 21. The conference will provide opportunities for in-depth discussion and analysis of U.S. and Asian policy options and feature speakers from throughout the region. Topics of discussion include China’s massive reclamation work in the Spratly Islands and the pending hearing in the Philippine’s arbitration case against China. The event will take place from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at 1616 Rhode Island Ave., NW, 2nd floor conference center. To RSVP, e-mail the Sumitro Chair.

Southeast Asia from Scott Circle – May 28

Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement: Manila’s Most Credible Deterrent to China

By Ernest Z. Bower (@BowerCSIS), Senior Adviser and Sumitro Chair for Southeast Asia Studies (@SoutheastAsiaDC), CSIS

May 28, 2015

The Philippines’ most credible deterrent to China’s stepped-up unilateral actions in the South China Sea is under the pen of Maria Lourdes Sereno, the chief justice of the Philippine Supreme Court. Sereno has been tasked with writing the decision of the court on whether the U.S.-Philippines Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), which would involve stationing American troops, planes, and ships in the country on a rotating basis, is constitutional. The agreement would also help the Philippines boost its maritime security through closer cooperation with the U.S. military. Tiếp tục đọc “Southeast Asia from Scott Circle – May 28”