Journal of Earth Science & Climatic Change
Open Access

Abstract

Today in Vietnam, the livelihoods of tens of millions of people have been affected by climate change and the lives of the poor and near-poor of Vietnam have been severely threatened by its consequences including inconsistent rainfall, higher temperature, more severe and abnormal weather, dramatic increase in frequency and intensity of storms, floods, tides, natural disasters and droughts within urban, rural, delta, coastal, mountainous and island areas. Vietnam is among five countries deemed vulnerable to climate change and was chosen by the United Nations as a country to carry out case studies on climate change and human development. The Vietnamese achievements of poverty reduction over the last 20 years might be adversely affected. In addition, the rate of poverty and re-poverty is likely to go up owing to the impacts of climate change. The gap between the rich and the poor and the gap between the rural and urban areas is running a high risk of minimizing the effectiveness of Vietnam's sustainable development strategies. To reduce poverty sustainably and map out sustainable livelihood strategies to cope with climate change in Vietnamese regions consisting of coastal and island areas, policy makers, scientists and managers have to perform proper scientific researches with sufficient credible scientific evidence. The paper focuses on analyzing manifestations of climate change and its impacts on the livelihoods of the poor in the coastal and island areas of Northern Vietnam and delivering judgments as proposed policies on development of sustainable livelihood models combating against climate change for the poor in the coastal and island areas of Northern Vietnam.

Biography

Hang Luong Thi Thu is an Anthropologist (PhD in Anthropology). Currently, he is the Vice Editor-in-Chief of the regional Sustainable Development magazine, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences. He has conducted a number of studies on livelihoods, climate change and institutional reform in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. He has 15 papers as a result of the research of these fields.

E-mail: hangnhxh.vass@gmail.com