Many projects on climate change response carried out with the support of international organizations in the southern central province of Ninh Thuan have generated positive outcomes, according to local authorities. The provincial People’s Committee had a working session on August 9 with a delegation of the National Assembly (NA)’s Committee for External Relations who came to examine Ninh Thuan’s implementation of international treaties on climate change response to which Vietnam is a party. Local officials reported over the past years, climate change has resulted in extreme weather conditions in Ninh Thuan as seen in the increase of heat waves, droughts and flooding. Under the impacts of continuous droughts, it suffered from losses of about VND165 billion ($7.1 million) in 2004 and 2005, and nearly VND1.35 trillion ($58 million) between 2014 and 2016. Meanwhile, flooding caused VND300 billion in damage in 2018. Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee Tran Quoc Nam said since 2009, the province has took part in six international agreements on climate change response and signed an agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to carry out international treaties on climate change response. Many projects implemented with the assistance and funding of international organizations have generated encouraging outcomes, he noted, highlighting a project on integrated water resources management and urban development in relation to climate change, and another on crop restructuring to adapt to this global phenomenon. Those projects have helped upgrade local infrastructure, create jobs and reduce poverty in Ninh Thuan, he added. At the meeting, the provincial authorities proposed the Ministry of Planning and Investment and relevant central agencies accelerate procedures for the signing of international agreements on the climate change response projects that will be carried out in Ninh Thuan, including an ADB-funded project on sustainable urban development adapting to climate change, and another on drought response and anti-erosion and anti-flooding embankment building funded by the French Development Agency (AFD). They also asked for the removal of procedure-related obstacles to facilitate those projects. Vice Chairman of the NA’s External Relations Committee Nguyen Sy Cuong highly valued the province’s efforts to carry out the projects related to the international treaties on climate change response. In spite of many difficulties and serious climate change impacts, many projects in Ninh Thuan have brought about positive outcomes, he said. He called for stronger efforts in the work, adding that the delegation will submit the province’s proposals to the NA Standing Committee to ask the Government to tackle existing problems, helping with the implementation of those projects. (Nhan Dan-The People Aug 10)
