British Ambassador: 'Time to act against climate change'

Affirming climate change is a major challenge in this era, the new British ambassador to Vietnam Giles Lever emphasized that this is the time when the world acts together and wishes to promote cooperation with Vietnam in this field.

According to Ambassador Giles Lever, global climate change is having a bad and rapid impact on the global society and economy, from countries with modern industries to emerging economies. Current global emissions tend to increase, while emissions reductions fail, which means that temperatures increase by 4 degrees, flooded area increases by 77%, drought increases by 5% and irrigation water. pepper decreased by 8%.

Scientific predictions of the effects of climate change are considered alarming in Southeast Asia, including Vietnam. With a long coastline and many large plains, Vietnam is easily affected by natural disasters of great intensity and often. According to the assessment report of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, 11% of the Red River Delta area and 3% of the coastal areas will be inundated, about 10-12% of the Vietnamese population is directly affected and lost. GDP is about 10%.

President Truong Tan Sang met Ambassador Ambassador Giles Lever to submit the National Letter on September 10.(Photo: VNA)

As a new ambassador in Hanoi, Mr. Giles Lever wishes to share the efforts of the United Kingdom and at the same time promote cooperation with Vietnam in this field.

"We find that reducing emissions is a major challenge for Vietnam, while still maintaining a high rate of economic growth," said Giles Lever, confirming his commitment of nearly £ 4 billion. Global climate finance to 2016, to support developing countries.

Speaking of the role of the international community, the ambassador hoped that countries would achieve the common goal of achieving the UN climate change negotiations, which took place in Paris, France, December 2015. According to the ambassador, countries need to be legally bound for emission reductions to achieve the goal of keeping the temperature not exceeding 2 degrees Celsius compared to the pre-industrial era.

"This is the time to act against climate change. Only by working together and setting great ambitions, can we avoid the climate nobody wants to happen in the future, while can still sustain economic growth , " the ambassador said.

The UN Secretary-General's climate change summit on September 23 is the only chance for world leaders to reaffirm their commitment to achieve a historic agreement at Paris, and improve understanding of climate change.

This agreement is only meaningful when countries express their desires and specific plans to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The ambassador said that GHG in the United Kingdom was 26% lower than the emission level in 1990 and it is expected that this target in 2050 will be 80%.

The UK wants affected countries like Vietnam to speak out in support of the agreement. Mr. Giles Lever also encourages searching and using online maps of Human Impact on Climate Change (Human Dynamics of Climate Change) recently introduced by the Bureau of Meteorology.