Country Overviews

Abstract

Located on the tropical typhoon belt, Vietnam is considered one of the most hazard-prone countries in the world. Typhoons, floods, droughts and landslides are recurrent and combined claimed 9,500 lives and were responsible for losses equal to 1.5 percent of annual GDP between 2001 and 2010. This situation is compounded by a host of non-climate factors such as high population density, high levels of poverty concentrated in coastal areas vulnerable to extreme events, and extensive low-lying land highly susceptible to flooding. Investments in poverty reduction over the past 20 years were successful: today less than 15 percent of households live below the poverty line. Nevertheless, the country's poorer populations are now concentrated in mostly rural areas with precarious housing and social infrastructure, low-lying roads, and high dependence on climate-sensitive livelihoods such as fishing and rainfed agriculture. Growing industrial and service sectors have reduced the relative contribution of agriculture, forestry and fishing to GDP, but these sectors still collectively contribute 21 percent of GDP and employ over 47 percent of the country's labor force. (3, 6, 7, 8, 9) KEY CLIMATE IMPACTS CLIMATE PROJECTIONS En e rg y Reduced energy production potential Disruption in service provision Fis he r ie s Shift in distribution of species Habitat destruction and degradation Loss of livelihoods; increased migration W ate r Re sou r ce s Degraded water quality Reduced flows and groundwater levels Destruction of water infrastructure Ag r i cul t u re Damage to crops Loss of arable lands Shifting production zones Inf ra st ru ct u re Damage to infrastructure Reduced mobility of goods and services Coa st al Ec os ys te m s Damage to and destruction of coastal and marine habitats 1°-2°C increase in temperatures by 2050 Increased intensity of extreme weather events, including droughts, typhoons and floods 28-33 cm rise in sea levels by 2050 FACT SHEET CLIMATE CHANGE RISK PROFILE