Climate change in Viet Nam inextricably linked to disaster response

Goals for climate change adaptation and disaster risk management are widely recognised as overlapping, but little is known about the dynamics of this interplay in the perspectives and practices of local authorities. A new DIIS research report describes how actors in provincial, district and municipal level institutions comprehend and operationalise climate change adaptation frameworks against the backdrop of their past experience of responding to disasters. This research report describes how meso-level authorities in Viet Nam manage the different intentions and priorities in national climate change and disaster risk management policies, as they support households and communities to adapt to environmental change and natural hazards. Research findings suggest that past assumptions about the role of the state are being questioned, but answers remain ambiguous due to uncertainties about how to respond to the growing role of civil society and the private sector.