Vietnam is being urged to develop a plan to tackle climate change.

According to a new report, it must be developed in the next five years as gas and carbon emissions have been increasing in the country due to the quick economic growth.

The Ministry of Planning’s report, supported by the World Bank and UN Development Programme (UNDP), proposes short and long term initiatives to further mainstream climate change into Vietnam’s policy, planning and budget cycle.

It also recommends “strategic investments” in low carbon technologies to strengthen the country’s climate change response.

Victoria Kwakwa, World Bank Country Director for Vietnam said: “Mainstreaming climate change into the budget will strengthen Vietnam’s resilience against the impacts of a warming world, make communities less vulnerable and tackle the emissions challenge as Vietnam continues its journey toward a greener, resilient and prosperous future.

“The options proposed by the report, if implemented, will help Vietnam achieve this goal by further embedding the climate change agenda into the government’s planning and budgeting systems.”