Another Vietnamese goes to Antarctica to join the journey against climate change

In March 2016, Nguyen Thi Thuy Van, a specialist in the Financial Advisory Department of Deloitte Vietnam, joined the 2041 Organization's "Leadership on the Edge" journey from the world's southernmost city of Ushuaia to Antarctica.

Thuy Van and Mr. Robert Swan OBE - the first person to walk to the two poles of the earth, UN Goodwill Ambassador for Youth, founder of the 2041 Organization.

Thuy Van went with 140 other outstanding members selected from thousands of profiles from all over the world.

Founded by Sir Robert Swan, a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador and the first person in history to walk to the two poles of the earth in the 1980s, the 2041 Organization has been a tireless campaigner for the past 13 years since its establishment in 2003 to raise awareness among the next generation of leaders about climate change issues and the importance of protecting Antarctica in protecting the global climate.

During the journey, Van met, got to know, and participated in group activities with excellent and like-minded international friends. Experts were also invited to the journey so that the members could learn and exchange about leadership skills, knowledge about the environment, climate change, and especially listen directly to Robert Swan talk about his journey to the two poles of the earth and the valuable lessons he learned about himself as well as about the people around him, about his responsibility and mission to Antarctica and the world in general. The members also had the opportunity to share with each other the projects they are pursuing. Some members were inspired by this "Leadership on the Edge" Journey and organized a Journey to remote villages in the Himalayas to bring light to them with solar panels that the group would help install. Some members set up a project to share stories about water sources around the world to raise people's awareness about protecting drinking water sources.

The impacts of climate change are becoming more and more evident on a large scale. In recent years, the alarming increase in the number of tropical super typhoons in all ocean regions of the world is one of the clearest examples (*). One of the main causes of the appearance of these super typhoons is climate change; and together with the phenomenon of rising sea levels. The future of tropical countries with coastlines, including Vietnam, is seriously threatened.

Thuy Van in Antarctica - Photo: Provided by 2041 Organization

Vietnam, with its long coastline and low-lying Mekong Delta, is predicted to be the second most affected country in the world by rising sea levels. Accordingly, people in this area (accounting for 26% of the population, equivalent to 23 million Vietnamese people) will be directly affected. According to models predicting sea level rise, in about 100 years, sea levels will rise from 1 m to 7 m and will rise at an increasingly faster rate. In the scenario of a 1 m sea level rise, 7 million people in the Mekong Delta alone will have to relocate, and at 2 m, that number will double (**).

Antarctica's ice covers 70% of the world's fresh water. Science has calculated that if all the Antarctic ice melted, the sea level would rise 61 m. "Antarctica has a big impact on the issue of rising sea levels. Therefore, the journey to Antarctica, although far away, is a very close and practical issue for Vietnam. Since 2009, when the first 6 Vietnamese people set foot on Antarctica on a journey to fight climate change with the 2041 organization, Vietnam has not had any more representatives join this journey, so I am very proud to be one of the few Vietnamese individuals to board the Ocean Endeavor to join the 2016 journey to the world's last wilderness" - Van shared.

Van received great support from her work unit, Deloitte Southeast Asia and Deloitte Vietnam, to carry out this journey. One of the most famous quotes by Sir Robert Swan is “The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will act to protect it”; Deloitte, although an enterprise in the field of auditing and consulting, always believes that participating in global action to combat climate change is necessary and important. It is not only a meaningful community activity in Deloitte's commitment to implementing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), but also a practical step for Deloitte, through Van's sharing after the journey, to help all members of the company as well as the social community and businesses raise awareness about the importance of climate change, solutions and actions, environmentally friendly business trends and towards sustainable development. 2016 is the year Deloitte Vietnam celebrates its 25th anniversary (May 13, 1991 - May 13, 2016) and supporting Van in the Antarctic Journey "Leadership on the Edge" is a meaningful highlight, contributing to enriching the chain of Social Responsibility activities of Deloitte Vietnam over the past quarter century.

(*) In November 2013, Typhoon Haiyan became the strongest landfalling tropical cyclone on record when it devastated the Philippines with sustained winds of 305 km/h. Just this October, Hurricane Patricia in the Eastern Pacific Ocean became one of the strongest tropical cyclones on record when it reached a minimum surface pressure of 872mb (second on record) with sustained winds of 345 km/h (first on record). And most recently, in February 2016, Tropical Storm Winston battered the South Pacific island nation of Fiji when it passed over the archipelago with sustained winds of nearly 300 km/h, making it the strongest Southern Hemisphere cyclone on record and the second strongest landfalling cyclone globally. (Earth Story)

(**) According to Columbia University Center for International Earth Science Information Network, the UN Refugee Agency

According to Thanh Nien