Sets of climate
change adaptation maps for three areas in Mekong Delta’s Can Tho city are being
created by the end of the month.
The Can Tho Steering Committee for Climate Change recently made
the decision to create the maps in order to identify areas which will be
impacted the most by climate change and minimise the consequences of natural
disasters.
With technical support provided by the World Bank (WB), the new
urban area in the south of Can Tho river, Tra Noc ward and other ancient wards
in the city centre will each have a set of maps which include four digital maps
on current material facilities, economic regions, the history of natural
calamities in the past, and a map including future development plans.
These maps are expected to be used to develop priority programmes
on coping with climate change and to call for investment and assistance,
according to the WB.
Ky Quang Vinh, director of the city’s Natural Resources and
Environment Monitoring Centre, said the steering committee chose those three
locations for the initial mapping, because they had high residential density,
important infrastructure and were considered most vulnerable to climate change.
"Creating a scenario for people to cope with climate change
based on the maps is urgent. The sooner the risks of climate change are uncovered,
the sooner people are provided with guidelines to prevent and mitigate the
consequences of climate change," said Vinh.
He said the set of maps would definitely be completed by the end
of the month despite lack of staff and financial shortages.
The WB has already published a handbook detailing plans to make
Can Tho, Ha Noi, and Dong Hoi the nation’s first climate-change resilient
cities by reducing vulnerability to climate change and natural disasters.
This practical guide to reducing disaster risk is meant to provide
city planners, administrators and communities with a better understanding of
climate change.
By 2100, the average temperature in Viet
Nam would increase by 3 degrees Celsius and the sea level
would rise by an additional one metre, predicted director of the Institute of Meteorology, Hydrology and Environment
Tran Thuc.
"Then, the entire Mekong Delta would be inundated and
1,700sq.km of the Red River Delta would be affected," said Thuc.
