Ecosystem-based Adaptation in Viet Nam

IKI project to integrate EbA into national adaptation strategies

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Viet Nam is among the countries most threatened by the impacts of climate change. Every year there are increased environmental and economic losses due to extreme weather events.

The Vietnamese Government is therefore aiming to promote activities to reduce greenhouse gases and adapt to climate change. To achieve this, Viet Nam has developed its national strategy on climate change and a corresponding action plan.

The ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) approach is now also to be integrated into Viet Nam's climate strategies. The 'Strategic Mainstreaming of Ecosystem-based Adaptation in Viet Nam' project is being supported by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Environment Ministry (BMUB). It started at the end of May 2015 with an official ceremony for the signing of the implementation agreement between the Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. GIZ will be implementing the project together with the Institute of Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment (ISPONRE) until March 2018.
The project aims to integrate the new approach into land-use and development planning and into the national adaptation strategy. Vulnerability studies are being prepared in the pilot provinces Ha Tinh and Quang Binh in order to investigate the risks arising from climate change and estimate the extent to which the population is prepared. Based on this, the project is planning and implementing measures together with the population and local institutions.

The EbA approach supports the use of the services of intact ecosystems in order to increase the adaptation capacity of the people to the impacts of climate change.
Stable ecosystems provide fundamental services for the people. For example they preserve the soil fertility and biodiversity, supply clean water and provide protection against floods or erosion.
IKI is supporting 22 projects around the world that use the EbA approach with funding of approx. EUR 80 million.