Over 12% Of Vietnam's Land Area Vulnerable To Sea-Level Rise - Includes Best Agricultural Land

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DA NANG — More than 12 per cent of Viet Nam’s land area, including some of its most fertile agricultural land, would likely be lost if the world’s sea levels continue to rise at current rates, warned Setsuko Yamazaki, the UN Development Programme country director in Viet Nam, at a meeting held yesterday in the city of Da Nang to note World Environment Day.

Viet Nam would be one of the world’s worst-affected countries when global sea levels rised due to melting ice in the polar regions, she said.

"If sea levels rose by one metre, the consequences for Viet Nam would be devastating," stated Yamazaki. "The country would face losses totalling US$17 billion per year; 17 million people would lose their homes; ... and 40,000sq.km of plains and 17sq.km of coastal areas in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta provinces would be subject to unprecedented levels of flooding."

With a 3,000km coastline, Viet Nam knows how important it is to protect its maritime and near-coast land resources. "The Government has dramatically increased forest cover and has begun to implement the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol. This should limit Viet Nam’s impact on climate change and should help the country to mitigate the negative impacts of climate change and rises in sea level, but much remains to be done," said Yamazaki.

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