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Vulnerability, Coping and Adaptation to Water Related Hazards in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta

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The Mekong Delta System

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Abstract

This chapter deals with the conceptualization, identification and assessment of the vulnerability of different social groups to water related hazards in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta. The Mekong Delta is globally seen as one of the key hotspots of climate change related risks due to its exposure to floods, salinization and potential sea level rise. In order to underline the multifaceted nature of vulnerability to natural hazards and climate change the paper outlines vulnerability profiles of different households and socio-economic groups in selected hazard prone areas, notably in rural communities exposed to high floods, coastal communities exposed to saline intrusion and urban communities exposed to urban and tidal flooding. The different locations selected for the assessment of vulnerability allow comparing how different local context situations and hazard phenomena might influence specific coping and adaptation strategies. The socio-economic transformation processes and policy reforms that have affected all three locations are examined in terms of their influence on vulnerability and capacities. The chapter provides a contribution to a further enhancement of methods, data bases and quality criteria for moving from an impact oriented risk assessment to a forward-looking vulnerability assessment that can inform future adaptation strategies. In this regard the chapter makes a contribution for linking disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) discourses. Particularly, the analysis of vulnerabilities to creeping-changes has often not been sufficiently addresses and incorporated in DRR strategies in Vietnam.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The authors follow the commonly agreed terminology in which climate change response comprises the two domains of climate change adaptation and climate change mitigation. Adaptation in this notion refers to the “adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli or their effects, which moderates harm or exploits beneficial opportunities” (IPCC 2007). Mitigation comprises all measures that reduce green house gas emissions, limit their growth or enhance sinks. Due to the focus of this paper, the authors have to limit the discussion to adaptation measures here, however, fully acknowledge that measures from both domains are absolutely necessary and that “mitigation is the best adaptation” in the long run.

  2. 2.

    Committee for Floods and Storm Control.

  3. 3.

    Poverty in this context refers to a participatory wealth ranking conducted within the framework of the research. The main criteria in this ranking were: land title, housing quality, income related to differentiated livelihood activities, other physical capital assets.

  4. 4.

    Only in the newly cultivated areas in the Long Xuyen Quadrangle the vulnerability to early floods remains a major problem, given that these areas are not yet protected by dyke systems.

  5. 5.

    The significant correlation is shown by the high value of the Pearson correlation coefficient (0.688**).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. United Nations University - Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), UN Campus, Hermann-Ehlers-Str. 10, Bonn, 53113, Germany

    Jörn Birkmann, Matthias Garschagen, Vo Van Tuan & Nguyen Thanh Binh

  2. Mekong Delta Development Research Institute (MDI), Can Tho University, Can Tho, Vietnam

    Vo Van Tuan & Nguyen Thanh Binh

Authors
  1. Jörn Birkmann
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  2. Matthias Garschagen
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  3. Vo Van Tuan
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  4. Nguyen Thanh Binh
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Correspondence to Jörn Birkmann .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Institute for Environment and Human, United Nations University, Hermann-Ehlers-Str. 10, Bonn, 53113, Germany

    Fabrice G. Renaud

  2. , Earth Observation Center, EOC, German Aerospace Center, DLR, ---, Oberpfaffenhofen, Wessling, 82234, Germany

    Claudia Kuenzer

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Birkmann, J., Garschagen, M., Van Tuan, V., Binh, N.T. (2012). Vulnerability, Coping and Adaptation to Water Related Hazards in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta. In: Renaud, F., Kuenzer, C. (eds) The Mekong Delta System. Springer Environmental Science and Engineering. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-3962-8_10

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