HCM CITY (VNS)— HCM City and Holland’s Rotterdam city are set to sign a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will advance co-operation between the two sides in climate change adaptation.
The development follows the city submitting a comprehensive climate change adaptation strategy at a meeting held between the two sides today.
‘The established climate adaptation strategy is the start of a new phase for which Rotterdam has been explicitly requested to continue to play a role, especially when it comes to securing responsibilities and increasing the knowledge of the various government agencies. The cooperation agreement will formalise this,” said Rotterdam deputy mayor Alexandra van Huffelen.
Huffelen will sign the new MoU on behalf of the Rotterdam, the Dutch Consulate in HCM City said in a press release.
HCM City is one of the cities in the knowledge network Connecting Delta Cities (CDC) and the completed strategy will be shared with CDC member cities, it said.
“Delta cities are to some extent similar throughout the world. More and more people are living in these areas, there is a need for more space and the cities are prone to the sea level rise because of their location.
“The strategy for HCM City could, therefore, serve as a blueprint for an integrated approach to the climate issues in delta cities around the world,” said Van Huffelen.
The problems city residents experience and the risks they face will only increase as a result of the predicted rising sea levels, increased water discharge from rivers and rising temperatures, the press release noted.
Since its population and economy are growing rapidly at the same time, HCM City has been expanding towards flood prone areas along the coast. A third of the city is already exposed to flooding at present. The city’s expansion and urbanisation is bound to contiue, given its attraction as a location to move to, and its population has already doubled in the past 25 years.
If HCM City’s master plan through to 2025 is implemented, its built-up surface will increase by fifty per cent and two-thirds of the city will experience regular flooding, the press release noted. — VNS
Đăng ký: VietNam News
