ActionAid International in Vietnam (AAV) and the Centre forResearch on Environmental Systems (CRES) on November 29 jointlyintroduced their latest report on climate change in Vietnam.

The report , “Losses and Damages – The Impacts of Climate Change onPoor People in Vietnam and Their Response s”, was based on results of astudy conducted in Loc Ha district in the central province of Ha Tinhand Nam Can district in the southernmost province of Ca Mau from July toOctober 2010.

According to the study, unusualweather phenomena derived from climate change, including early stormsand prolonged rains, increased production costs as well as reducedproductivity and people’s incomes.

Local authoritiesand residents had made some adjustments in their daily life andproduction to adapt to changing weather patterns. However, thesemeasures were mostly passive.

The report putforward several recommendations, such as speeding up the implementationof the National Objective Programme on Reponses to Climate Change,especially the inclusion of climate change responses into localdevelopment strategies and plans, improving capacity of local officialsand raising public awareness of climate change.

Italso suggested measures be applied in each specific area, with a focuson vulnerable groups, including poor people, women and children.

According to the AAV, the report was considered a reference to be usedat international forums to call for financial support from developedcountries for poor nations to overcome damages and strengthen capacityto cope with climate change.

The report was announced on the threshold of the UN Climate Change Conference, which opened in Cancun, Mexico on the same day./.