Adam Ward, the representative for Vietnam at the Global Green Growth Institute Vietnam’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) was issued in November 2015 as a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, contributing to limiting global warming to less than two degrees Celsius by the end of the century. Vietnam’s NDC emission reduction target is set at 8 per cent with business-as-usual conditions (unconditional contribution) compared to 25 per cent with international support (conditional contribution). To be able to achieve these targets, in October 2016 Vietnam issued the Plan for Implementation of the Paris Agreement which lays out the steps it will take in order to reach the emission reduction target. Cities are major contributors to GHG emissions. The International Energy Agency estimates that urban areas currently account for over 67 per cent of energy-related global GHG, which is expected to rise to 74 per cent by 2030. It is estimated that 89 per cent … [Read more...] about Generating sustainable urban centres to help curb emissions
How to help global warming
Rapid, unprecedented change needed to halt global warming
Rapid, unprecedented change needed to halt global warming - U.N.The Saigon Times Daily People take part in protests ahead of the upcoming G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany July 2, 2017. Placard reads "Global Warming is NOT a Myth" – PHOTO: REUTERS LONDON/INCHEON (REUTERS) - Keeping the Earth’s temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius means making rapid, unprecedented changes in the way people use energy to eat, travel and live or we risk even more extreme weather and loss of species, a U.N. report said on Monday. Meeting 1.5C (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, rather than the 2C target agreed at global climate talks in Paris in 2015, would have “clear benefits to people and natural ecosystems,” the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said on Monday. Without real change, the world is not even on course to reach the 2C target, experts said. U.N. World Meteorological Organization (WMO) secretary-general Petteri … [Read more...] about Rapid, unprecedented change needed to halt global warming
Children taught how to survive climate change
VietNamNet Bridge – Life was beautiful in Thuan Commune – once. Now it floods in the winter, broils in the summer, lies wreathed in mist for the rest of the year, and the children have to scavenge for food. "Previously, there was no fog and the weather in our village was much better, but in recent years, fog covers our village every morning, the temperature gets hotter in the summer and floods, droughts happen more frequently." The children from Thuan Commune have made an eight-minute documentary about life in the village. The short film, narrated by Ho La Hoi, an eighth grade student, was shown by Plan International at a workshop in Ha Noi last week. The audience consisted of educators, aid workers and NGO staff. The audience saw, in an unsentimental way, how the village's bedraggled children have to forage for food. The narrator even describes how children take home dead carcasses to eat. "Before it floods, villagers should build cement water tanks to store clean … [Read more...] about Children taught how to survive climate change
Seminar talks global warming and forestry in Vietnam
Scientists and environmental managers discussed measures to deploy the UN-REDD programme in Vietnam at a seminar in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong on Nov. 26. They highlighted why the location of Lam Dong was selected for the implementation of the UN Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (UN-REDD) and improving the technical capability and management and coordinating mechanisms from central to local levels. The issue of how to combine the UN-REDD programme with the provincial land use programme to prevent forest degradation was also tabled for discussion. Many delegates mentioned that the lessons learned by many countries can be applied to Lam Dong, including raising people’s awareness through dissemination work, and attracting the involvement of the local community as well as domestic and foreign businesses and organisations to the programme. They also suggested the expansion of information … [Read more...] about Seminar talks global warming and forestry in Vietnam
The reality of global warming: We’re all frogs in a pot of slowly boiling water
In 2009, global leaders agreed to try not to let the world warm more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times. This is sometimes seen as a rule of thumb for keeping on the right side of climate change, within “safe” territory. But that’s not at all how scientists meant it, Professor Camille Parmesan, an expert in biodiversity at the University of Plymouth in the United Kingdom said. Climate risks don’t begin at 2C, she said; it’s more like where they go from high to intolerably high. The planet has already warmed by about 0.8C (1.7 Fahrenheit) since the late-19th century. Some of the world’s most iconic places are also the most vulnerable, and they are already feeling the effects. “We’re already seeing contraction of species in the most sensitive ecosystems, such as those dependent on sea ice or those living on mountain tops,” she said. “We’re also seeing declines in some tropical systems, such as coral reefs, … [Read more...] about The reality of global warming: We’re all frogs in a pot of slowly boiling water