In recent years, the concept of ‘climate change’ has become increasingly accepted and is generally defined as a significant variation of average weather conditions. This change, in combination with natural fluctuations, leads to changes in climate over time. Previously, climate change occurred over a long period due to the impact of natural conditions, but in recent times, it has occurred more rapidly due to the impact of human activities.
In this article, the current situation about climate change will be discussed together with mitigation policies and the sustainability of responsive measures in Vietnam.
1. Introduction
Climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing humanity in the 21st century because it is directly affecting ecosystems, environmental resources, and human life. The consequences of this phenomenon have affected the development of all countries, including Vietnam.
2. Climate Change is becoming a Global Challenge
2.1 Global Climate Change
Climate change has always been considered an urgent issue since it impacts the process of sustainable development worldwide. Climate change impacts are becoming the cause of climate security challenges. Extreme weather is considered a challenge to world peace and security as data shows that it increases the risk of conflict by 10 to 20 percent. Further, climate change poses a threat to public health and causes more epidemics.
According to the World Meteorological Organization (‘WMO’), human-induced climate change has been affecting many regions all over the world. The Special Report, Global Warming of 1.5ºC, by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (‘IPCC’) shows that climate change will escalate in all regions in the coming decades. Global warming of 1.5°C will lead to increased heat waves, longer warm seasons, and shorter cold seasons as well as changes in precipitation causing floods and droughts all over the world. Further, 2020 was one of the three warmest years on record with temperatures as high as in the year 2016, according to data from the WMO.
It is expected to continue to evolve unpredictably and its adverse effects will become more serious.
2.2 Climate Change in Vietnam
2.2.1 Geography and climate change
Vietnam is a Southeast Asian nation with an extensive coastline and a diverse but generally warm climate. Vietnam has a coastline of more than 3,200 km and is an archipelago of islands with diverse ecological characteristics.
Most of Vietnam’s population is concentrated in lowland areas in the Red River Deltas, Mekong River Deltas, and coastal urban areas. These are areas that are heavily affected by it.
2.2.4 Economic growth vs environmental impact
Vietnam’s rapid growth and industrialisation over the past 30 years have helped develop its economy and transform it from one of the poorest countries in the world to a lower middle-income country. However, industrialisation also has many negative impacts on the environment and natural resources. Vietnam is assessed as one of the countries seriously affected by climate change, in which the Mekong Delta is one of the most vulnerable and susceptible regions to rising sea levels.
2.2.3 Rising challenges from GHG Emissions
Over the past two decades, Vietnam has emerged as the fastest-growing per capita greenhouse gas (‘GHG’) emitter in the world, with an increase of around five percent per year. Big cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City with high urbanization rates and rapidly growing populations are facing serious challenges from environmental pollution and increasing GHG emissions.
2.2.4 Vulnerability to natural hazards
In Vietnam, the consequences of climate change have initially been seen through natural hazards, and the impact on the economy, the people, and society. When it comes to natural hazards, Vietnam is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate-related disasters. The extent of vulnerability is different between regions depending on the geographical and socio-economic conditions. In the Mekong Delta and the Central region in Vietnam, recurring droughts from 2019 to 2020 had more impact and severity than the saline intrusion drought in 2016.
In 2020, water resources in rivers and streams in the Central and Central Highlands regions continued falling by 35 to 70 percent compared with previous years.
In addition, unusual climate phenomena have occurred continuously in many regions, causing landslides flash floods, and great devastation.
2.2.5 Mekong Delta’s climate crisis
In particular, the historic floods in 2020 in the North Central and South Central regions profoundly affected, destroyed, and delayed the economic development of the Central region of Vietnam. In addition, Vietnam is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries due to rising sea levels. Recent statistics show that, in the past 10 years, 1.7 million people have migrated out of the Mekong Delta, while only 700,000 have moved in. This migration rate is twice that of the national average.
Further, this area has subsided by an average of 18cm over the past 25 years. The rate of land subsidence fluctuates between 1.1cm to 2.5cm per year, about 10 times higher than the rate of sea level rise. It is predicted that many locations in the Mekong Delta might be flooded up to 100cm by the mid-21st century due to the impact of climate change in combination with land subsidence and sea level rise.
2.2.6 Urban areas and climate resilience
Big cities in Vietnam, such as Hanoi, Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh City also faced many challenges from climate change such as flooding, saltwater intrusion, high tides, prolonged heat, and severe cold. Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi are considered important economic, cultural, educational, scientific, technical, and technological centers of Vietnam.
Therefore, these cities are also important to be considered by the Vietnamese for taking measures to respond to climate change associated with economic development in these localities. Further, it can be seen that these cities and their constituent systems are better able to predict, adapt, or recover from the effects of it than other regions.
In addition, the individuals, communities, organizations, enterprises and ecosystems of these cities can continue existing, adapting, and thriving despite pressure and challenges in huge fluctuations (if any) caused by it.
2.2.7 Socio-economic ramifications of Climate Change
Natural disasters are also increasing due to the impacts of climate change, causing the loss of many of the achievements of the country’s socio-economic development. As an agricultural country, climate change in Vietnam affects all regions and industries. Hence, agricultural production and rural development will be most affected. Climate change affects food production directly and crop growth processes indirectly due to drought and saltwater intrusion. Climate change shrinks arable land and reduces crop production and productivity, which is predicted to cause a loss of about 0.4 percent of GDP by 2030.
In addition, increased temperatures, drought, and lack of irrigation will affect the distribution of crops, reducing crop yields in Vietnam. The most vulnerable sectors are agriculture, fisheries, and tourism, while the most severely affected people are those in the mountainous and coastal areas, especially the poor, women, and children.
Droughts, saltwater intrusion, floods, environmental pollution, and lack of drinking water affect human health and the healthcare system by increasing infectious diseases. In the future, there may be more new diseases due to climate change’s impact in Vietnam. Prolonged hot weather also increases the death rate and increases the number of people hospitalized.
According to statistics, when the average temperature increases by 1°C, the hospitalization rate of children aged 0 to 2 increases by 3.4 percent, and the hospitalization rate of children aged 3 to 5 increases by 4.6 percent. For every 1°C temperature increase, the hospitalization rates among children under 5 years old for respiratory infections increases by 3.8 percent. Flooding in urban areas in flood-prone rural areas will affect the poorest communities which could lead to poverty and inequality in the future.
2.2.8 Conclusion
In general, climate change in Vietnam has continued to intensify at a higher rate in recent years. In over 30 years of renovation, Vietnam has achieved great results in economic and social development. However, economic growth is high and consistent but not sustainable (in terms of people, ecology, environment, economy, and property). While the process of implementing national plans for economic and social development has not been effectively integrated with environmental protection and a climate change response, pollution levels and environmental degradation continue to increase.
The exploitation and use of natural resources is still unreasonable and wasteful. Many resources are being seriously degraded and biodiversity is rapidly declining. The proportion of poor people and inequality is still high. Self-response to natural disasters and adverse impacts of climate change is very limited. These concerns have profoundly affected economic and social life in Vietnam.
3. Mitigation policies and legislation
The Vietnam government is trying to reduce the impact of economic growth on the environment and effectively adapt to climate change. Vietnam is willing to respond to climate change, which is demonstrated by the range of national policies and concrete GHG mitigation and climate change adaptation measures that were undertaken throughout the past decade.
To overcome the challenges arising from climate change, the Government of Vietnam took part in international commitments on climate change, in particular:
- Signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (‘UNFCCC’) on 11 June 1992 and ratified it in 1994.
- Signed the Kyoto Protocol (‘KP’) in 1998 and ratified it in 2002.
- Signed the Paris Agreement in 2015 and ratified it in 2016 within the framework of the UNFCCC and as a follow-up to the Kyoto Protocol. (The agreement builds on voluntary contributions to reducing emissions, with particular emphasis on climate change mitigation measures and increased reporting obligations.)
- Set up a National Steering Committee to implement the UNFCCC and KP.
- In 2015, Vietnam ratified the amendment of Doha to the KP to contribute to the establishment of a global legal basis for controlling and reducing GHG emissions.
Besides participating in international commitments, Vietnam also has built a legal framework on climate change in line with Vietnam’s international commitments and sustainable development goals. Since 2005, the Vietnam National Assembly has paid more attention to the promulgation of policies and laws on natural disaster prevention and response to climate change. Some of these measures include:
- The Constitution in 2013 included the task of responding to climate change for the first time:
Article 63: “The State shall adopt environmental protection policies; manage and use natural resources in an efficient and sustainable manner; conserve nature and biodiversity; and take the initiative in preventing and controlling natural disasters and responding to climate change. …“ - Both the Law on Environment Protection 2014 and the new Law on Enterprise 2020 (effective from 1 January 2022) have a separate chapter on responding to climate change in Vietnam.
- The Law on Hydrometeorology 2015 has specific provisions on monitoring the scenarios of climate change.
- The Law on Forestry 2017 specifies rules for forestry operations that forests are managed sustainably in terms of area and quality to ensure harmony targeting socio-economic development, national security, biodiversity conservation and to enhance the forest canopy and forest service value and preparedness to climate change.
- The Law on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy 2010 sets goals to use energy economically and efficiently as well as protect the environment and reduce GHG emissions.
- The Law on Water Resources 2012 specifies climate change in ensuring measures relating to water sources, preventing droughts and floods in the event of extreme and unusual weather phenomena.
- The Law on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control 2013 (amended in 2020), specifies that: “… natural disaster prevention and control activities must be based on scientific grounds, combining traditional experiences and scientific and technological advances, and structural and non-structural solutions, protecting the environment and ecosystems and adapting to climate change.“
- The Law on Construction 2014 (amended in 2020) specifies that the basic principle is to: “… ensure the compliance of work construction investment with master plans and designs, landscape and environmental protection, suitability to natural and social conditions and cultural characteristics of each locality to ensure the stable life of people, combine socio-economic development with national defence and security, disaster preparedness and management, and response to climate change.”
In addition to legal documents, Vietnam has also issued many strategies and programs to respond to climate change through each target period. Vietnam promulgated the Resolution No 06/NQ-CP, promulgating an action plan to continue implementing Resolution No. 24-NQ/TW on proactively responding to climate change and many decisions to respond to climate change on a national scale. The Government is also drafting a decree to regulate greenhouse gas emission mitigation and ozone layer protection. The objective of this decree is to reduce GHG emissions in the fields of energy, agriculture, land use and forestry, waste management and industrial processes in accordance with the conditions of economic development and society in Vietnam and international treaties to which Vietnam is a member.
However, the regulations related to climate change are scattered throughout the many laws and there is no unified legal document on climate change. Although Vietnam has issued a National Strategy and Action Plan response to climate change, many regulations are not based on current resources for implementation. The system of policies and laws has been gradually promulgated, but it has not given due attention to climate change adaptation and GHG emission reduction. Policies on GHG emission reduction are not strong enough and separately regulated in some economic sectors. In addition, the current legal framework has not yet shown the orientation to reduce GHG emissions in potential fields in Vietnam such as renewable energy, energy conservation, agriculture and forest protection and development
In the meantime, the system of legal documents on responding to climate change has not been adjusted in time to adapt to the constantly changing domestic and international situation of climate change.
In general, the measures against climate change include raising awareness and a sense of responsibility, proactively preventing natural disasters, responding to climate change and strengthening resource management and environmental protection by focusing on perfecting policies and laws and consolidating the state management system in response to climate change, resource management and environmental protection. Responding to climate change needs to be implemented by many policies integrated in many laws and legal documents.
In fact, over the past 10 years, the government and its agencies have paid more and more attention to the implementation of policies and laws on climate change. As a result, Vietnam has made much progress in promulgating policies to respond to climate change and policies related to the management of industry and natural resources.
4. Enterprises and Climate Change in Vietnam
At present, Vietnam has not developed a legal framework defining the obligations and accompanying legal responsibilities for enterprises that directly affect climate change in Vietnam, but only a legal framework for violations in the field of environmental protection.
According to Decree No 155/2016/ND-CP and Decree No 55/2021/ND-CP on administrative sanctions in the field of environmental protection, individuals and organisations (including foreign individuals and organisations), committing administrative violations in the field of environmental protection in Vietnam will be sanctioned according to current regulations. These cover administrative violations in the field of environmental protection specified in such decrees, such as:
- violations against regulations on environmental protection plans, environmental impact assessment, acts of violation causing environmental pollution;
- violations against regulations on waste management;
- violations against regulations on environmental protection committed by production, business and service establishments and industrial parks, export processing zones, high-tech parks, industrial complexes and concentrations of businesses and service providers;
- violations against regulations on environmental protection in the fields of import of machinery, equipment, means of transport, materials, fuels, scraps, bio-preparations, import of used seagoing ships for dismantlement, festival and tourism activities, and mining of minerals;
- violations against regulations on prevention and control of environmental pollution and degradation, and environmental emergencies, acts causing obstruction of state management, inspection and the imposition of penalties for administrative violations; and
- other acts of violation against regulations on environmental protection.
The decrees also stipulate fines corresponding to each act of violation. In addition, regulations on dealing with environmental crimes were also institutionalised in the Criminal Code 2015.
Currently, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (‘MONRE’) is finalising the draft of a new decree on penalties for administrative violations in the field of environmental protection. The draft decree also supplements administrative violations on the conservation of nature and biodiversity, violations of regulations on protection of natural heritage, natural ecosystem services, mitigation of GHG emissions, protection of the ozone layer and violations of regulations on environmental monitoring. This draft is built on the provisions of Decree No. 155/2016/ND-CP and Decree No. 55/2021/ND-CP to update new regulations of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020, which aim to meet management requirements in the new circumstances in Vietnam.
Another positive sign is that MONRE is also developing a draft of a circular detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020 in response to climate change. On the basis of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020 (which will take effect from 1 January 2022), the development of the circular aims to concretise a number of aspects of the content of the law and a decree regulating GHG emission reduction and protection of the ozone layer.
Regulated entities of this circular are expected to be agencies and organisations involved in climate change mitigation activities in Vietnam, agencies assigned with developing strategies and planning in the case of assessing environmental impact, agencies and organisations involved in GHG inventory appraisal and GHG emission reduction results and organisations and individuals involved in the recycling, reuse and destruction of ozone-depleting substances and substances causing greenhouse effects that must be under control.
Therefore, organisations and individuals that conduct activities related to recycling, reuse and destruction of ozone-depleting substances controlled under the Montreal Protocol need to pay attention to the upcoming legal regulations to comply with regulations in Vietnam.
In order to proactively adapt to climate change in Vietnam, enterprises need to actively update information on the current situation and legal regulations and connect with other enterprises to interact and share information and experiences in adapting to climate change and epidemics. This will also contribute to raising compliance consciousness of enterprises, promoting the willingness of enterprises to invest and improve the level of environmental compliance and to safely adapt to epidemic situations, thereby creating a community that is more resilient to natural disasters, climate change and epidemics.
5. Some drawbacks of the legislation and implementation of mitigation policies
As mentioned above, the regulations related to climate change are scattered within the many laws and there is no unified legal document on climate change.
In the light of new challenges faced by Vietnam due to the impacts of climate change, sea level rise, and more severe natural disasters, Vietnam has to implement investment and economic development policies with the requirement of ‘fast, efficient, and sustainable development’ in the meantime to cope with the negative impacts of climate change. These are considered huge responsibilities, considering the fact that national resources are limited. Investment costs for climate change adaptation and mitigation are tens of billions of dollars (possibly hundreds of billions) per year. This is considered a significant burden, especially due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on socio-economic development.
Some legal documents on climate change response are not specific and lack many mechanisms to utilise the country’s resources effectively. In addition, we realise that Vietnam still does not have specific policies to encourage socialisation and mobilise people’s association with the responsibilities and interests of the community in responding to climate change.
Further, the database is incomplete and lacks a mechanism to share and provide information on climate change on a national scale. Solutions to respond that focus mainly on emission reduction projects with little emphasis on other solutions. In addition, facilities and monitoring equipment are still weak. Forecasting and warning for some types of natural disasters have not met the requirements while the infrastructure for natural disaster prevention and control still has many shortcomings and the capacity to adapt to climate change has not improved significantly.
Moreover, activities to reduce GHG emissions are still limited and the capacity to absorb GHG by natural forest ecosystems continues to decline. Natural resources are still being exploited unsustainably and inefficiently.
Therefore, to adapt and mitigate the impacts of it in Vietnam, the government needs to develop a low-carbon economy and conduct GHG emission reduction activities simultaneously to effectively respond to climate change and to protect and improve the quality of life. Solutions to respond to that must be systematic, synchronous, inter-regional, focused, and suitable to current times and international treaties to which Vietnam is a party.
Vietnam needs to accelerate the transformation of its economic structure towards a green and sustainable future, increasing recycling and reuse of waste. The legal framework needs to better promote the role of promoting adaptation measures, combined with the participation of enterprises and people. In addition, Vietnam needs to gradually increase the budget for environmental protection in line with the growth rate of the economy and increase the effective use of resources in environmental protection.
6. Conclusion
In conclusion, Vietnam is one of the countries most affected by climate change. Therefore, in order to realize the development vision and show common responsibility to the international community, Vietnam needs to quickly improve the above-mentioned drawbacks and utilize international relationship expansion in addition to restructuring the economy to develop in a more sustainable way and develop environmentally friendly technologies and focus on propagandizing and educating people and the enterprise community about environment protection for the purpose of creating a green and sustainable living environment.
References:
- WMO New Climate Report: Clarion Call for Urgent Action. Available at: [https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/wmo-new-climatereport-clarion-call-urgent-action] (accessed 9 November 2021).
- IPCC Special Report: Global Warming of 1.5°C. Available at: [www.ipcc.ch/sr15/] (accessed 9 November 2021).
- WMO Press Release: 2020 on Track to be One of Three Warmest Years on Record. Available at: [https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/2020-track-be-one-ofthree-warmest-years-record](accessed 9 November 2021).
- [http://baochinhphu.vn/Khoa-hoc-Cong-nghe/Bien-doi-khi-hau-dangtro-thanh-thach-thuc-an-ninh/426559.vgp] (accessed 9 November 2021).
- Vietnam’s National Decision on Contribution Technical Report_MONRE 2020.
- [https://tapchicongsan.org.vn/web/guest/media-story/-/asset_publisher/V8hhp4dK31Gf/content/thich-ung-voi-bien-doi-khi-hau-vabao-ve-moi-truong-theo-tinh-than-nghi-quyet-dai-hoi-xiii-cua-dang] (accessed 9 November 2021).
- Vietnam’s National Decision on Contribution Technical Report_MONRE 2020.
Click [here] to learn more about this topic (pg. 20 – 27).
