Climate change adaptation governance: synthesis of national policies and household livelihood practices in Vietnam

Abstract

Vietnam confronts substantial risks from climate change, such as storms, floods, rising sea levels, and droughts threaten the livelihoods of households. This study tackles a major gap in the literature on climate change adaptation governance in Vietnam by providing the first comprehensive, multi-regional comparative study of how national policies issued by the Party and Government since 1992 are implemented at the household level across several ecological regions. The primary scholarly contribution combines qualitative analysis of national legal and policy documents, secondary government statistics, and primary household surveys to systematically identify and explain governance gaps that produce unequal adaptation outcomes. Using multi-level comparative case studies, the research delivers new empirical findings showing a shift from passive response to proactive adaptation, consistent with the principle of “leaving no one behind,” while also revealing region-specific governance models. Specifically, the analysis shows that in the coastal Northern Delta, policies unfairly benefit large-scale exploitation and aquaculture over small-scale farming; in the Mekong Delta, adequate adaptation requires coordination beyond the provincial level; and in the Central Highlands, adaptation must address multiple objectives amid mounting climate uncertainty. The study’s original contribution is conceptualizing a two-way governance process in which resilient livelihoods emerge from active interaction between top-down policy directives and resources and bottom-up local adjustments and innovations. By empirically illustrating variation in adaptation pathways and governance gaps across ecological regions, this research highlights the limits of uniform national policies and the need for context-specific, comprehensive governance mechanisms as integral to Vietnam’s climate adaptation strategy.