Climate change drowning Vietnam’s economy

Tuesday, 17 November 2009 13:24

Of all the countries in the world, Vietnam looks to be the country hit the second hardest by climate change. According to the projections, large parts of the country will end up under water, which will wreck big parts of the country’s industry and agriculture, writes Danish daily Berlingske Tidende.

Two weeks ago, Vietnam was hit by yet another typhoon. 600 millilitre of rain fell within a day. One of the consequences was that large parts of Ho Chi Minh City were left under water, and streets several kilometres from the Mekong River were flooded.

The explanation for the flooding is that parts of the sewerage system leads the water directly out into the Mekong River. However, because of the enormous amount of rain water, the water level rose one and a half metre and, therefore, the water from the river started running the opposite direction, being pressed up the sewerages and out into the streets in parts of Ho Chi Minh City.

More problems ahead

Unfortunately for the Vietnamese, the problem with water from the river flooding the streets, it not the only consequence they see because of climate changes. Much worse consequences lie ahead as the UN is estimating that Vietnam will be the country hit the second hardest by climate change.

The expected consequences are as follows: In the year 2100 the average temperature in Vietnam will have increased three degrees, and the water level is expected to rise one metre.

Already in 40 years we expect the water level to have risen 50 centimetres, says Vietnam’s Minister for the Environment Phom Khoi Nguyen to Berlingske Tidende. He fears that this will mean that around 10-15 millions of Vietnam’s inhabitants, primarily the ones living in the area of the southern part of the Mekong River, will be forced to leave their homes. At the same time they will loose their land – and thereby also their source of income – which is very serious for the many peasants, he says.

The pantry of Vietnam

The Mekong Delta is the pantry of Vietnam and 22 per cent of the Vietnamese population of 87 million people live around the river. Half of all rice produced in Vietnam comes from the Mekong Delta. 60 per cent of the fish and shellfish caught and produced in Vietnam come from here, and 80 per cent of all Vietnamese fruit is picked in the Mekong Delta. All of this means that the area is essential to Vietnam. The consequences of climate change are that it will rain more in areas that already see a lot of downpour, while the areas where it does not rain will become even drier.

The consequences will especially be felt around the Mekong Delta, but also in the highland it will be felt on the production of tea and coffee, says Phom Khoi Nguyen.

The Vietnamese government is looking into different ways of preventing some of the consequences. Among other things, they have looked at how The Netherlands are building seawalls to save the countryside, and Phom Khoi Nguyen explains that they are thinking about rising large areas of land in the Mekong Delta.

“All we can do is try and hope that it works,” he says.

In 20 days, the Vietnamese Minister for the Environment will be in Denmark, trying to convince world leaders to act now, in order to save his country, and not least, the rest of the world.

Source: Belingske Tidende, Denmark