Change for Climate Change

Written by: Le Quang Dao – CATREND Manager

To prepare for the potentially devastating consequences of climate change, nearly 80 officials working for government agencies at provincial and district levels in the northern province of Thanh Hoa gathered for a World Vision training course on 25 July.

The participants learned about the possible effects of long-term changes in weather patterns and the tools required to draft response plans. The trainees will use their new knowledge to advise the political leaders of their respective agencies to kick-start the development of such plans for the period 2015-2020.

World Vision’s ‘Central Areas of Thanh Hoa Province Resilient to Natural Disasters’ (CATREND) project and Thanh Hoa’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment jointly organised the course.

The People’s Committee for Thanh Hoa has already published an action plan to respond to climate change, which began in 2011 and continues to 2015 and also establishes future strategies for the province through to 2020. However, the region’s individual political departments and district authorities have yet to issue their specific plans.

Climate change is already having quantifiable effects on the socio-economic development of Thanh Hoa province, such as the aftermath of Typhoon No.10 (Typhoon Wutip) in 2013. Official reports revealed that the tropical storm claimed two lives, injured five others and caused material losses of VND420 billion (20 million US dollars).