Vietnam’s Resilience-based Climate Adaptation Platform

As we researched and learned about how Asian countries are adapting to calamities, including extreme wet and dry monsoons, typhoons, and other climate-related events, we came across the document “A Visual Climate Adaptation Platform for Da Nang City of Vietnam—A Science-based Climate Resilience Approach.”

Da Nang is the third-largest city in Vietnam, a coastal city situated in the central part of the country. The city and its residents are highly vulnerable to tropical cyclones, flash floods, and heavy rains. These extreme climate conditions are predicted to become more frequent due to climate change, posing a serious threat to the city’s infrastructure and housing (Studies and Planning, 2018).

Flooding is another problem facing the city, as development and population increase along the river and coastal floodplains. A need for flood management has also been identified in the town and its surrounding areas, which are prone to flooding.

To help the city cope with and adapt to these climate extremes, the CSIRO, a platform partner of 100RC, undertook a demonstration study of the proposed Visual Climate Adaptation Platform (VCAP).

The focus is on assessing potential impacts and damage costs on residential housing subjected to tropical cyclones in two pilot study areas. The study has demonstrated the feasibility and benefits of the VCAP in helping city planners and authorities develop an integrated resilience strategy for natural disaster risk management and climate adaptation (A Visual Climate Adaptation, 2020).

Benefits of the Visual Climate Adaptation Platform.

The VCAP integrates the latest data and generates new knowledge to support city planners in urban planning and policymaking, enabling the development of climate-resilient strategies. It also facilitates collaboration between relevant agencies.

Specifically, the study has shown the following benefits: a GIS Web-portal for improved land-use and infrastructure planning, estimates of damage costs for financial and insurance budgeting, maps of damaged hot spots to assist planners in targeting the most vulnerable locations, and a Risk Assessment Framework that allows the identification of the cost-benefit assessment of adaptation options (A Visual Climate Adaptation, 2020).

The good news is that other cities and regions facing similar climatic threats and vulnerabilities to Da Nang, Vietnam, can also utilise the VCAP to support their climate adaptation projects and build resilience against climate change, thereby benefiting from it as well.

BACKGROUND PHOTO CREDIT: Bethany Waugh