(VOVworld) - Hello and welcome to VOV’s Sunday show, showcasing Vietnam’s traditional culture, hospitable people and beautiful landscape. I’m Kim Chi, hosting the show.

Vietnam is the fifth most vulnerable country to climate change in the world. Temperature increases and changes in rainfall patterns will affect agricultural production, water resources and human health. Despite these far-reaching effects, the concept of “climate change” is still rather academic to many people, so educating people about climate change and getting them to change their behaviors is crucial. BBC Media Action has launched a communications project in Vietnam to help Vietnamese media better communicate the climate change issue to the community.

 

Climate change is increasing its impacts on our lives Source: binhdinh.gov.vn

Here are some answers to the question “What is climate change?”.

Thanh: I think climate change is unpredicted changes in the weather. The Earth is getting warmer and warmer due to environmental pollution. This is also causing the extinction of many kinds of flora and fauna.

Tuan: The concept of “Climate change” is rather popular on mass media. I haven’t much noticed about the climate change impact in our life.

In fact, climate change and rising sea levels are increasing their impact on our lives. If the sea level rises 1 m, Viet Nam will lose about 12% of its land and 23% of the population will be directly affected. Typhoons are occurring  more frequently with greater intensity. Over the past few years, the media have covered this issue , trying to make people sufficiently aware of climate change to alter their behavior. Lottie Oram, Assistant Project Manager of BBC Media Action’s Climate Asia project, talks about the role of the media: "I think media plays an important role in a lot of issues as media has ability to reach the people in a creative and diverse way. Media is a way of passing information among community through TV, through radio communicating of stunning issues".

These efforts have not proved very effective because journalists themselves are not well-enough prepared to communicate climate change issues to the public. Vuong Hong Hanh of Challenge to Change, a British NGO that helps poor communities in Asia adapt their livelihoods to climate change said this  about the difficulties of communicating the facts of climate change: "Those liken us who are working on climate change lack the resources and time to communicate the impacts clearly. Meanwhile, those in the media with the necessary communications skills, lack detailed knowledge of climate change, which limits their ability to convey the issue accurately and persuasively".

Climate Asia is a research project that measures knowledge and attitudes about climate change in Asian countries and makes recommendations for more effective communication about climate change. Lottie Oram again: "We’re working in 7 countries including Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, China and Vietnam. It’s large project. Over the course of 2 years, we’ve interviewed thousands of people, we bring together the research to help informed tool kits , it’s designed to help people like journalists, NGOs communicate better with the community over the climate change that the community is hard to reach".

The project has brought together experts in the field of climate change and media experts to design a set of communication outputs and recommendations. Le Nghiem of VOV2, the Culture, Science and Education Channel of the Voice of Vietnam has suggested that climate change communications should take various forms depending on the situations. Nghiem says his channel is currently broadcasting a drama series about climate change: "Through this drama series, we hope to raise people’s awareness, change their behavior and attitude toward nature, and help them adapt to their changing environment. This is an educational program but in an entertaining form".

In addition to diversifying the format, the media should identify who is most at-risk from climate change and target them more effectively. Hong Hanh again: "I think we should target specific groups and customize the message accordingly.  Challenge to Change targets young people in urban areas who not only enjoy many development opportunities but also face risks related to climate change. Young people should be informed about this issue and take part in activities right in  their schools to protect the environment".

Climate Asia has been a forum for climate change experts and journalists to share experience and improve media effectiveness. Ms. Thuy Linh, who is in charge of a program about adapting to climate change at Vietnam Television told us: "There should be a link between channels to share information and formats systematically. There have been some video clips by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment broadcast on TV recently about the impacts of climate change but how to overcome and deal with this situation has not been worked out".

Climate change has been increasing its impact on the community and media should be a significant tool for mitigating this impact. More and better  communication campaigns are needed, which means journalists need to be provided with the knowledge and skills it will take.

 

More measures are needed to deal with climate change Source: occa.mard.gov.vn

                                                                

You’ve just listened to the Sunday show on the VOV where today we introduced to you about a project by BBC Media Action to help Vietnamese media better communicate the climate change issue to the community.

It’s time once again to say good bye, but before we go, I’d like to remind you of our address.

English session, Overseas Service, VOV Radio 45 Ba Trieu street, Hanoi, Vietnam. Our email address is: englishsection@vov.org.vn. You can also replay the show at our website at: www.vovworld.vn.Good bye and see you next time.

Kim Chi