PHÒNG CHỐNG BÃO ! – Prevent storm damage – Prévention des catastrophes naturelles

Hanoi – The recent record high tide levels in HCM city could have gained their strength from carbon emissions as part of the effects of ongoing global climate change, a United Nations Human Development Report analysis has shown. The report, launched yesterday in Hanoi, called on wealthy countries to cut their carbon emissions by at least 80 percent by 2050. Developing Asian countries, especially fast growing countries such as China and India, should cut emissions by at least 20 percent by 2050.The emissions cut are needed to maintain a sustainable carbon budget, which was identified in the report as keeping temperatures rising no more than 2 degrees Celsius.

A two-degree temperature rise will see global sea levels rise by one metre, which will inundate 12 percent of Vietnam’s land, mostly the fertile arable low-lying areas, and displace 22 million people in the country.

Speaking at the report’s launch in Hanoi yesterday, UN resident coordinator in Vietnam, John Hendra, said that already people in Vietnam were feeling the effects of rising temperatures.

“Floods and storms are hammering Vietnam’s coastal areas and climate change is making that worse”, said Hendra.

Sea tides rose to 1.5m in HCM city on Tuesday night, the highest in 48 years. Climate change in Vietnam has seen temperatures increasing about 0.1 degree per decade, sea levels rising by 2.5 to 3cm per decade, and unstable rainfall causing floods and droughts, according to the Vietnam Institute of Meteorology, Hydrology and Environment.

Climate change is expected to impact on industries such as agriculture, forestry, aquaculture and fisheries and coastal and energy sectors.

“Vietnam is one of the countries that will be most affected by climate change, and at the same time on of the nations with the opportunity to influence international decisions, including at the upcoming UN Global Conference on Climate Change in Bali (on 3-14 December)”, Hendra said.

Lead author of the HDR, Kevin Watkins, said the carbon budget of the 21^st century was being overspent and threatens to run out completely in 2032.

“And the poor – those with the lightest carbon footprint and the least means to protect themselves – are the first victims of developed countries’ energy rich lifestyle”, said Watkins.

Nine planets would be required to absorb all the world’s carbon if every poor person had the same energy-rich lifestyle as an American or a Canadian, says the report. The report stresses that nations have ten years to act; otherwise the effects will be irreversible.

Carbon trading

The report promotes strategies such as pricing carbon, and developing a mix of energy sources as effective in mitigating climate change impacts.

Carbon trade is a way to transfer financing between rich and poor countries, in which a certified emission reduction (CER) equivalent to one tonne of carbon and reduced through clean development mechanisms (CDMs) can be sold.

“It’s the capital flow and technological transfer{involved in carbon trade}that will help developing countries mitigate climate change impacts”, said Koos Neefjes, senior advisor for sustainable development at the UNDP.

Nguyen Khac Hieu, deputy director of the International Cooperation Department of the MONRE, said that Vietnam is developing its regulatory framework to enable more active participation in the world’s CER market.

Hieu said that Rang Dong Oil Field, whose associated gas now being used to generate power and liquefied petroleum gas in stead of being wasted, has achieved carbon reduction of 7.6 million tonnes. The field is being considered for receiving 4.8 million CERs by the end of this year.

Vietnam should also restrain its use of fossil fuels like coal, which generates much more carbon dioxide than oil and gas.

With 1.3 percent of the world’s population, Vietnam accounts for 0.3 per cent of global emissions – an average of 1.2 tones of carbon dioxide per person.

Other seminar participants said that Vietnam should raise its voice on the issue in international forums.

“Vietnam is among those most severely affected. Even if the emission target is met, 22 million people will still be displaced as sea level rise one metre”, said a representative from Oxfam.

“Vietnam and its delegation in Bali should push for even more ambitious international agreements, which will see even more emissions to be cut”, he said. “It should also require adequate financing from donors for adaptation to climate change, as the effects of climate change will continue for many years to come”.

Vietnam ratified a UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1994, and the Kyoto Protocol in 2002. The MONRE is assigned by the Government to be the national focal point to implement strategies to tackle climate change.

This year’s human development index (HDI) is 0.733 for Vietnam, which has constantly been increasing since the index was first compiled in 1990. Vietnam scores relatively well in life expectancy, at 56^th and adult literacy rate at 57^th. Its overall rank is 105^th out of 177 countries and territories.

The country can improve its HDI in the future by enhancing secondary and tertiary school enrolment and improving its per capita income, which is now at a very low rank of 122^nd.

See Full report at http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr2007-2008/

DIPECHO South East Asia and the Central Committee for Flood and Storm Control is going to engage with partners, practitioners, government agencies and donor institutions in a consultative dialogue contributing to the formulation of the DIPECHO strategy for the 6^th Action Plan for South East Asia, particularly for Vietnam.

As part of the strategic planning process for the 5^th DIPECHO Action Plan for South East Asia (SEA) and based on the outcomes of a recent comprehensive external evaluation of the Program covering the period 1998-2006, DIPECHO South East Asia (DIPECHO SEA) and the Central Committee for Flood and Storm Control (CCFSC) is going to engage with partners, practitioners, government agencies and donor institutions in a consultative dialogue contributing to the formulation of the DIPECHO strategy for the 6^th Action Plan for South East Asia, particularly for Vietnam. This National Consultative Meeting will be organized on 29-30 November 2007 at the Guoman Hotel located at 83A Ly Thuong Kiet Street, Hanoi and, as part of the strategic programming process, will look at:

• an exploration of some of the key lessons learned from past disaster risk management actions in the country
• an examination of the strategic perspectives of both the government and representatives of the donor community in disaster risk reduction, related to, and beyond, the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015. Regarding DIPECHO SEA, it will be looked at strategic orientations for the period 2008-2011.

 It will also spend the a session (in the second day) for DIPECHO applicants, including staff members of interested applicants and their counterparts who will be involved in the preparation of the projects, with information on summary of the first day meeting’s contents, programming issues and other practical information.

By renewing this important exercise, it is hoped that the spirit of information sharing and exchange that was so keenly welcomed following the NCM series of 2004 and 2005 will be perpetuated, and furthermore will promote the complementarily of individual strategies in disaster reduction in Vietnam.

Other primary disaster risk reduction stakeholders in DIPECHO SEA countries, namely Laos, Cambodia, Timor-Lester, Indonesia and Philippines will also be involved in such national consultative dialogue that will assist DIPECHO in identifying its strategic priorities for the forthcoming 2008 – 2009 funding cycle. Agenda of the meeting

DIPECHO partners consolidated lessons learnt - previous DIPECHO national consultative meeting - 2005

 Hôm qua 25.11, Tổng bí thư Nông Đức Mạnh đã có chuyến thăm, làm việc và kiểm tra tình hình khắc phục hậu quả lũ lụt tại Thừa Thiên-Huế.  Tổng bí thư đã đến thăm thầy và trò trường THPT Nguyễn Chí Thanh (huyện Quảng Điền).

Sau khi nghe ông Trần Phước Hinh, Bí thư Huyện ủy Quảng Điền báo cáo tình hình lũ lụt tại địa phương và Hiệu trưởng nhà trường cáo tình hình học tập của học sinh sau lũ, Tổng bí thư đã biểu dương tinh thần chủ động phòng chống lũ lụt của cán bộ, nhân dân Quảng Điền cũng như toàn thể cán bộ, đảng viên, lực lượng vũ trang và nhân dân trong toàn tỉnh. Tổng bí thư gửi lời chia buồn sâu sắc đến những gia đình có người thân thiệt mạng do lũ lụt, chia sẻ khó khăn với nhân dân vùng lũ, động viên Đảng bộ, chính quyền và nhân dân trong tỉnh phát huy hơn nữa tinh thần tự lực, vượt qua khó khăn, thực hiện thắng lợi nhiệm vụ kinh tế – xã hội năm 2007. Về khắc phục hậu quả lũ lụt, Tổng bí thư lưu ý, từ nguồn hỗ trợ vật chất, tài chính của trung ương, các tổ chức trong và ngoài nước và tấm lòng của đồng bào cả nước hướng về miền Trung, các cấp chính quyền phải đưa được số hàng cứu trợ đến được tận tay người dân, từ nay đến Tết không được để dân đói, dân rét, không để xảy ra dịch bệnh và không được để học sinh nghỉ học.

Cùng ngày, Tổng bí thư cũng đã đi thăm một số gia đình cán bộ lão thành cách mạng, gia đình chính sách, các hộ bị thiệt hại nặng do lũ lụt vừa qua tại thị trấn Sịa, xã Quảng Vinh (huyện Quảng Điền), xã Hương Toàn (huyện Hương Trà) và có buổi làm việc với Ban Thường vụ Tỉnh ủy Thừa Thiên-Huế.

Bùi Ngọc Long

Yesterday, 22 November 2007, a National Workshop on Climate Change and Natural Disaster Management in Viet Nam has been held by the Central Committee for Flood and Storm Control with the support of the Natural Disaster Mitigation Partnership under Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The workshop was co-chaired by Mr. Dao Xuan Hoc, Deputy Minister cum Deputy Chairman of the CCFSC, Mr. Nguyen Cong Thanh, Deputy Minister of MONRE and Ms. Setsuko, UNDP Resident Representative.
The overall objective of the workshop was to raise awareness and attention among the public and key institutional stakeholders on the impact of climate change in disaster risk management in the broader rural development context in Vietnam. The Workshop gathered representatives of relevant Ministries and industries, of 17 coastal provinces, of several Embassies to Vietnam such as Royal Netherlands, Luxembourg, AusAid, Denmark, Sweden… and of the international organizations and NGOs. Additionally, mass media also attended the workshop and broadcasted the event.

The workshop shared information and the newest studies on climate change and its impacts on various areas and rural residents in Vietnam; introduced the Vietnam National Strategy for natural disaster preparedness and mitigation to 2020 towards the issue of climate change, which has just newly approved by the Government and so on

After presentations, participants have discussed on the issues that were interested by all. The detailed contents of the workshop will be included in the meeting minutes and shared with partners later through the NDM Partnership website.

Presentations delivered in the workshop:

1. Presentation on the newly approved National Strategy for DM to 2020 towards the issue of CC (by Standing Office of CCFSC)

2. Presentation on strategic directions of UN on the issue of CC (by UNDP)

3. Presentation on impacts of CC to rural development in Viet Nam and adaptation recommendations (by Scientific Institute of Water Resources, MARD)

4. Presentation on impacts of CC to natural resources and conditions, solutions for sustainable socio-economic development in Viet Nam (Scientific Institute on Hydro-meteorology and Environment – MONRE) 
5. Study report on Linking climate change adaptation and disaster risk management for sustainable poverty reduction in VN (by representative of Inter-government Panel on CC) 

(NDMP)

 

The Central Hydro-Meteorological Center is not sure if Storm Hagibis will hit Vietnam or veer off course.

It said Wednesday that many international weather forecast centers had issued different predictions for the storm which lay centered 430 km southeast of the central coast.The storm is likely to continue heading northwest at 5 kph for the next 24 hours.The center said it packed winds of up to 133 kph.It would arrive 320 km southeast of the point between Khanh Hoa and Ninh Thuan provinces Saturday, it said.The southern part of the East Sea, including the Spratly Islands, would see rough seas and strong winds, it said.Heavy rains are also expected to lash the southern region, particularly provinces like Binh Phuoc, Dong Nai, and Ba Ria-Vung Tau, and Ho Chi Minh City.Another weather system, Tropical Storm Mitag, is now developing off the Philippines and is forecast to enter the East Sea Saturday. 

Storm preparations under way

The Central Steering Committee for Flood Control and Prevention issued an emergency dispatch yesterday instructing local governments in provinces all the way from Thua Thien-Hue to the Mekong Delta to immediately instruct seafaring vessels to dock safely.Stop fishing boats from going out to sea, the note stressed.Local disaster agencies were also told to stay in close touch with each other to undertake evacuation and rescue work if necessary.The HCMC Committee for Flood Control and Prevention convened a meeting yesterday to discuss preparation work.Authorities said work to evacuate over 11,000 residents in the city was under way.They told the administration of Can Gio District, where Storm Hagibis is likely to hit, to evacuate residents in storm-prone areas to safer areas.The municipal administration said agencies concerned should keep a close eye on possible floods and landslides if the storm hits the city.Other southern provinces in the Mekong Delta region are also bracing for the storm.Storms rarely hit Vietnam in November since the storm and flood season normally ends in October. 

Story from Thanh Nien News Published: 23 November, 2007  

BARGUNA, Bangladesh, Nov 19, 2007 (AFP) – Up to 10,000 people are dead and millions homeless and hungry in cyclone-hit Bangladesh, officials said Sunday, as the army and aid workers battled to reach the country’s devastated coast.

Three days after cyclone Sidr tore into one of the world’s poorest nations from the Bay of Bengal, rescue workers were still fighting their way through a landscape of flattened villages and traumatised crowds.

Survivors on the isolated southern coast, where many areas were still out of reach for aid convoys, warned they would soon die unless help arrived.

“I lost six of my family members in the cyclone. I am afraid that the rest three of us will die of hunger. We are without food and water for the last few days,” said a 55-year-old farmer, Sattar Gazi.

“For the corpses, we don’t even have clothes to wrap them in for burial… we are wrapping the bodies in leaves,” he told AFP in a village situated on the Bay of Bengal coastline and smashed by a six-metre (20-foot) high tidal wave.

Abdul Zabbar, a 50-year-old teacher, said the situation in the area — already one of the most impoverished places on earth — was unbearable.

“There is no food and drinking water. Bodies are still floating in the rivers and paddy fields,” he said, adding the rice harvest — or four months of food — had been washed away.

Victims told an AFP correspondent who managed to reach this coastal area that they had not seen any aid workers, let alone a plane or helicopter.

Officials said the humanitarian situation in coastal districts like Barguna, 200 kilometres (130 miles) south of the capital Dhaka, was catastrophic.

“I have never seen such a catastrophe in my 20 years as a government administrator,” said district official Harisprasad Pal.

Squadron Leader Farhad Hossain Mahmud of the army control room said the latest confirmed death toll stood at 3,113.

“It may cross 5,000, but it will remain below 10,000,” the chairman of the Bangladeshi Red Crescent Society, the country’s central humanitarian organisation, told AFP.

Officials have stressed they expect many more victims will be found in remote areas, including around poor fishing villages in the string of small islands off the coast.

Aid efforts were being hampered by roads blocked by fallen trees and the sheer scale of the devastation.

“In the remote areas it is slow-going, they are almost chopping trees as they go along,” said Douglas Casson Coutts of the World Food Programme, adding that officials were working with the military to organise air drops to the most inaccessible districts.

Red Cross and Red Crescent workers said they were using their network of volunteers to distribute dried food and plastic sheeting for temporary shelters, but that many helpers were themselves victims.

“Our estimate is that 900,000 families are affected,” said Red Cross official Shafiquzzaman Rabbani.

That figure amounts to roughly seven million people — no small task for the army helicopters and navy ships sent out to distribute food, medicine and relief materials.

Most of the deaths were caused by the tidal wave which engulfed coastal villages, as well as flying debris and falling trees that crushed flimsy bamboo and tin homes — all that most people in Bangladesh can afford.

A stunned 25-year-old woman, Jahanara, recounted how she managed to cling to a tree as the storm ripped away everything around her, including her husband, two sons and mother, and even the clothes on her back.

Messages of condolence have been pouring in from abroad — and pledges of aid are increasing, providing hope that the relief operation will soon swing into high gear.

The United States said Sunday it was sending two million dollars, with the European Commission and individual EU members also offering similar sums.

Bangladesh was also taking stock of the ecological cost — with the Sunderbans, the world’s biggest mangrove forest and home to the endangered Royal Bengal tiger, taking the brunt of the storm.

“The cyclone has inflicted an ecological disaster,” said Shanti Ranjan Das of the government’s livestock department.

The vast mangrove forest, listed as a World Heritage Site by the UN cultural organisation UNESCO, is a natural tide barrier crucial to the long-term survival of coastal communities.

 

DHAKA, Nov 16, 2007 (AFP) – A powerful cyclone smashed into Bangladesh killing more than 150 people as it uprooted trees, destroyed homes and forced tens of thousands to flee for their lives, officials said Friday.

The eye of cyclone Sidr, shown in satellite images as a huge swirling white mass moving in from the Bay of Bengal, hit land Thursday night before sweeping north towards the capital Dhaka.

“We have been told by police that over 150 people died in the cyclone,” said Major Emdadul Islam of the army control room.

Most deaths were caused by trees crushing flimsy homes made of bamboo and tin, said police.

The extent of the damage caused by Sidr was expected to be severe and the number of casualties high, officials said.

“Many trees have been uprooted and houses and schools blown away,” said Mostofa Kamal, a district relief official in Barisal, 120 kilometres (75 miles) south of Dhaka.

Southern areas were plunged into darkness as electricity supply lines were snapped and “innumerable” homes flattened, the private UNB news agency reported, quoting its correspondents.

Wind speeds of 220-240 kilometres (140-155 miles) an hour were recorded in what officials described as one of the worst storms in years.

Tens and possibly hundreds of thousands of people in the southwest spent the night in special evacuation shelters in a bid to avoid the massive casualties of previous cyclones.

Although officials said they were optimistic the death toll would not be in the thousands, they feared widespread destruction.

“We expect the damage to be enormous,” said an official of the disaster management and relief ministry.

The dead included an elderly man who drowned when a boat carrying 17 people across a river in southern Satkhira district capsized during the storm. The other passengers were able to swim ashore, an official said.

Experts described Sidr as similar in strength to the 1991 storm that triggered a tidal wave that killed an estimated 138,000 people.

Another cyclone in 1970 killed up to half a million people in the disaster-prone and impoverished country.

Bangladesh has since set up an early warning system and a network of shelters in vulnerable coastal areas.

The head of the Bangladeshi meteorological department, Samarendra Karmakar, said he was optimistic the evacuation programme would spare the country the huge loss of life seen in previous decades.

“It is not less severe than the 1991 cyclone, in some places it is more severe. But we are expecting less casualties this time because the government took early measures. We alerted people to be evacuated early,” he said.

India escaped the fury of the cyclone, which forecasters said would lose strength on Saturday just south of the mountain kingdom of Bhutan.

“It’s a great relief to us,” said West Bengal relief minister Mortaza Hossain.

“Over 100 mud houses have been damaged and tin roofs blown off houses as squall and rains hit the Sunderbans,” mangrove forest close to Bangladesh, he said.

Some 100,000 villagers in coastal areas of West Bengal were returning home Friday despite heavy rain after being evacuated to 69 temporary camps, he said.

The storm, which reached Dhaka early Friday, weakened overnight and was now progressing through the northeastern state of Sylhet, said weather department forecaster Farah Deebaa.

“It has lost its intensity and is crossing the Sylhet region as a land depression,” she said.

 

 See Decision   echo-decision-lekima-vietnam_01000.pdf