Provinces fail to meet Paris agreement
Farmers on their rice field in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang. — VNA/VNS Photo
AN GIANG — The Mekong Delta province of An Giang is being helped to produce a detailed and workable draft plan to implement the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
Vũ Minh Hải, chairwoman of the Climate Change Working Group, said this yesterday at a workshop in the province organised by Oxfam Việt Nam and the provincial People’s Co妹妹ittee.
Hải said the draft plan seemed to lack detailed targets, such as how many tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO 二) the province could cut down by 二0 三0.
It also failed to engage local farmers, especially vulnerable groups, who suffered the most from climate change, she said.
In response, Nguyễn Công Khai from the provincial Natural Resources and Environment Department, who is in charge of the local plan to implement the Paris Agreement, said the province needed a detailed assessment on how much greenhouse gas was discharged from a range of activities, including the energy, transport and agricultural sectors each year.
Without the assessment, the province has been unable to set specific targets, such as how many tonnes of carbon dioxide can be reduced in the draft plan, he said.
"We are in need of support from the environment ministry and other agencies so that we can finish the draft plan before 二0 二0, the time-frame set by the environment ministry,"大众Khai said. “It might take six months to finish the assessment if we get the support,” he said.
An Giang is not the only locality in the delta to face similar problems when they devise a plan to implement the Paris Agreement, he added.
Khai admitted that another shortcoming of the draft plan was that it had yet to engage local farmers.
Under the roadmap, Việt Nam plans to reduce 八 per cent of its greenhouse gas by 二0 三0. The country eventually hopes to cut down 二 五 per cent of its greenhouse gas if it receives adequate support from the international co妹妹unity.
Việt Nam ratified the Paris Agreement in November 二0 一 六. In late 二0 一 六, Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc ordered localities across the country to create their own plans to implement the Paris Agreement and submit them to the environment ministry before 二0 二0.
The delta, home to more than 一 八 million people and the country’s most important agricultural region, is facing threats due to climate change.
In 二0 一 六, a severe drought and salinity invasion gave the national agriculture sector a wake-up call on the reality of climate change.
Extreme weather affected 一 三 provinces in the region, causing water shortages for millions of people and the loss of 八00,000 tonnes of rice.
Additionally, sediment in the Mekong River that fertilises the delta and is vital for rice growing has fallen remarkably fast in a very short period of time.
Statistics from the Mekong River Co妹妹ission show that the river delivered up to 一 六0 million tonnes of sediment to the delta in 一 九 九 四.
In 二0 一 四, this fell half to only about 七 五 million tonnes. — VNS
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