Improving resilience of vulnerable coastal communities to climate change in Vietnam

Poor communities living in the coastal regions of Vietnam are adversely impacted by frequent flooding. Each year approximately 60,000 houses in coastal provinces are destroyed or damaged by floods and storms. This is likely to worsen given climate change scenarios.

Resultant economic impacts make it increasingly difficult for vulnerable families to escape the cycle of poverty. With funding from the Green Climate Fund, this project will scale-up already tested interventions to increase the resilience of target communities. Building on ongoing social protection programmes related to housing for the poor and marginalized, the project will incorporate storm and flood resilient design features in new houses benefiting 20,000 poor and highly disaster-exposed people.

As part of an integrated response to managing flood risks, 4,000 hectares of mangroves will be rehabilitated and/or planted to function not only as storm surge buffers, but also to provide ecosystem resources that can support coastal livelihoods. Moreover, to support and sustain the impact of this project, as well as future requisite government policy adjustments that strengthen the resilience of coastal and other communities, the project will systematize climate and economic risk assessments for private and public sector application in all 28 coastal provinces of the country.

30 million coastal residents will benefit from improved planning integrating climate risk information, 20,000 people will benefit from climate-resilient housing, and 3,8 million people in the target coastal provinces will benefit from the protection offered by healthy and robust mangrove regeneration. An estimated 1.9 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions will be avoided.

On September 25th, 2018, international financial institutions and representatives of worldwide development agencies will meet for the Vietnam Economic Infrastructure Development Forum to discuss some of the most fundamental issues among which is the сlimate change adaptation.

Original source: UNDP
Published on 17 August 2018