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Global environmental change research in Vietnam

Dr. Nguyen Huu Ninh

Member, Southeast Asian Regional Committee for START, Global Environment Programme, Hanoi University of Science, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Vietnam, and CERED, A01, K40 Giang Vo, Hanoi, Vietnam. Tel: 84 4 8515213. Fax: 84 4 8515213. Email: cered@netnam.org.vn.

Abstract of paper presented at the conference Environmental Change and Vulnerability: Lessons from Vietnam and the Indochina Region, Hanoi, Vietnam, April 4-5th 1998.


The Global Change System for Analysis, Research and Training (START) is a framework of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), addressing regional research initiatives and needs, jointly with the International Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change Programme (IHDP) and the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP).

The four START main programme objectives are:

  1. regional institutional and network development;
  2. global change research on a regional level;
  3. human resource development; and
  4. support for policy formulation.

There are different regional networks in development at different stages: Southeast Asia, South Asia, Temperate East Asia, Northern Africa, Mediterranean, Southern Africa, etc.

The Southeast Asia (SEA) region of START was one of the initial regions assigned a high priority for establishing a regional network. The Southeast Asia Regional Committee for START (SARCS), which was formed to facilitate this process is comprised of representatives from Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China-Tapei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Following a series of SARCS meetings, priorities for regional research objectives were defined:

  1. to improve estimates of greenhouse gas fluxes, especially in relation to changes in land use and land cover;
  2. to integrate natural-social science assessments of changes in the coastal zones of the Southeast Asia region;
  3. to develop regional databases for use in global warming studies; and
  4. to establish a regional research network for global change research including the establishment of the SEA-START Regional Center.

The Southeast Asia START Regional Center (SEA START RC) serves as the information and co-ordination center for the regional network. In addition, it is expected to perform the following region-wide tasks: training, data management, synthesis, assessment and modelling, and communication of scientific results to policy makers.

In recent years, Vietnamese scientists have been involved in several studies related to global environmental change. For example:

  1. Project on Climate Related Impacts Assessments in Vietnam supported by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
  2. Asia Least-Cost Greenhouse Gas Abatement Strategy project with support from the Asia Development Bank (ADB), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Global Environment Facility (GEF).
  3. Regional Study on Global Environmental Issues project supported by ADB.
  4. Training Programme to promote the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change supported by UNEP, UNDP and GEF.
  5. Economics of GHG limitations. Phase 1: Establishment of Methodological Framework for Climate Change Mitigation Assessment supported by UNEP and GEF.
  6. Socio-Economic and Physical Approaches to Analysing Climate Change Impacts in Vietnam supported by UK Economic and Social Research Council.
  7. Vietnam Coastal Zone Vulnerability Assessment Project supported by Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.
  8. SARCS/WOTRO/IGBP-LOICZ Project on Integrated Modelling: Xuan Thuy Ramsar Site supported by the Netherlands Foundation for the Advancement of Tropical Research (WOTRO).
  9. Vietnam-Holland Project on global change in Red River Delta supported by WOTRO (in preparation phase).

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