Water Security in context of climate change in Vietnam – Challenges and solutions toward sustainable development

Water security challenges facing Viet Nam in recent years, including interstate management, water quality, water shortages, and water-related natural hazards, are a growing concern in terms of both scope and severity. Alongside the development of le to meet the challenges it faces in this area. So, to promote integrated water resources management, climate resilience toward sustainability and address water security challenges, UNESCO, the Institute of Hydrology and Meteorology Science and Climate Change (IMHEN) (under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment) and Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme (IHP) National Committee in Viet Nam organised a national workshop under the theme “Water and Climate Change – Challenges and solutions toward sustainable development in Viet Nam”.

In this one-day workshop, over forty participants from ministries, provinces and researchers discussed the country’s needs for water management and ideas to address the key challenges which the country has been facing, especially in riverine deltas.

The workshop discussed water resources and water security in the context of global and regional changes. Over the past decades, water resources have been experiencing numerous pressures, originating from rapid population growth and urbanisation, consumption patterns changes and climate change. Under this theme, the recent United Nations’ Water Development Report 2020: Water and Climate Change highlighted Water Security and SDGs, together with risks and challenges of water security in climate change in Viet Nam and the roles of reservoirs in water security.

It also covered the effects of climate change on the hydrological regime, building resiliency of water-related disasters for sustainable development, hydrological forecasting and water-related disasters warning. In recent …