Ho Chi Minh City is most vulnerable to climate change

An official of the World Bank (WB) yesterday warned that Ho Chi Minh City was among the 10 cities that suffered the most severe consequences of disasters caused by climate change.

Ho Chi Minh City is often flooded by high tide. (Photo: Kien Cuong).

AFP said, during a conference on disaster risk reduction of Asian ministers in the Korean city of Incheon on October 26, John Roome, director of the World Bank in East Asia, warned millions of poor people. in Asia will suffer the consequences of disasters due to climate change and the rapid urbanization process.

' The price that the poor pay for natural disasters is their life ,' Mr. Roome said.

Last year Mr. Roome stated in a speech that 6 of the 10 countries with the highest death rates and gross domestic product loss are in Asia. From 1997 to now, 82% of people died of natural disasters belong to these 10 countries.

' Climate change, along with unprecedented rapid urbanization, has made the impact of disasters more and more terrible. The frequency and destructive power of climate change-related disasters has increased fourfold in the past two decades , 'Roome said.

Leading a research result of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Roome announced that Asia is home to 6 of the 10 cities most vulnerable to climate change. It is Guangzhou and Shanghai (China), Ho Chi Minh City, Mumbai, Kolkata (India) and Osaka (Japan).

' For example, if necessary measures are not implemented in Bangladesh, the damage caused by a super typhoon could increase fivefold and reach more than 9 billion dollars before 2050, in which households are poor. suffered the most severe consequences , "he said.

According to Roome , a World Bank study shows that if global temperatures increase by 2 degrees Celsius between now and 2050, the world will lose about $ 75 to $ 100 billion to adapt to the new heat. East Asia and the countries around the Pacific will have to spend the most money. Much of that money will be used to upgrade infrastructure, water supply and flood protection systems.

Roome said Asian cities could reduce the risk of climate change-related disasters by improving the living conditions of the poor, eliminating slums and bringing economic development programs. sacrifice to every community. Cities should also promote proper land use, invest in disaster warning systems and create favorable conditions for people to easily access information about disaster risks.