Experts of the World Bank (WB) made the ranking in their working paper entitled "The impact of sea level rise on developing countries: a comparative analysis."
According to the paper, an estimated 10.8 percent of Vietnam's population would be displaced with a one-metre rise in sea level, and disproportionate high impacts will be noted in the Mekong and Red River deltas.

If sea level increases by five metres, the country would lose up to 16 percent of its area, with 35 percent of its population being affected and 35 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) being lost.

After carefully studying satellite maps of 84 coastal developing countries and territories in five different regions of the world, the WB experts calculated that, with a one-metre sea level rise, approximately 194,000 sq.km of land would be inundated, affecting 56 million people (1.28 percent of the world population) and reducing the GDP of these countries and territories by an estimated 1.3 percent.

Susmita Dasgupta, Senior Economist of the WB and co-author of the research, said the question of when the event will occur can only be determined by scientific studies.
However, she said, it is vitally important for these countries and territories to know, if sea level rises by one metre, what will be the impact, what will be the inundated area, and how GDP will be lost, etc. in order to formulate preventive and protective measures.

VNA