Author
Assoc Prof Nguyen Thi Hong Yên
Organisation/Institution
Hanoi Law University
Country
VIETNAM
Panel
Environmental Law
Title
CLIMATE JUSTICE AND DISPROPORTIONAL IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES: AN APPROACH FROM INTERNATIONAL LEGAL PERSPECTIVES AND ASEAN COUNTRIES
Abstract
Climate change, a global challenge, poses a serious issue of climate justice, especially for vulnerable groups, such as the poor, women, children, ethnic minorities, indigenous peoples and residents in the areas directly affected by natural disasters, sea level rise, droughts and floods. Despite making the least contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions, they suffer the most severe consequences, including losing their livelihoods, limited coping resources, and a high risk of social inequality. With disadvantaged economic conditions, unsafe living environments, and limited access to services, they face many obstacles in climate adaptation. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure climate justice and consider it a key principle in global and national governance. This article analyses the international legal framework on climate justice and human rights to indicate that, despite the progress in protecting the rights of vulnerable groups, many regulations remain non-binding and lack a clear definition of responsibilities among member states. This limitation is disadvantageous for developing countries, including Vietnam, when international financial and technological support is merely advisory, unstable, and insufficient for effective implementation. Research on policies and practices in Vietnam and other ASEAN countries shows significant progress has been achieved, including the issuance of the National Strategy on Climate Change, the integration of social equity into poverty-reduction and sustainable development policies, expanded international cooperation, and improved governance capacity. However, financial and technological limitations, as well as the gap between regulations and enforcement, remain significant challenges for Vietnam. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the international legal framework with a binding and fair mechanism of responsibility allocation and internalize international commitments to protect vulnerable groups and promote sustainable development effectively.
Biography
Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Thi Hong Yen is a senior lecturer and researcher in Public International Law at Hanoi Law University (HLU), under the Ministry of Justice of Vietnam. She has a prolific record of publications in esteemed national and international journals and publishers. Her research focuses on various areas of public international law, including international human rights law, international law of the sea, international environmental law, climate change, and more. From 2012 to 2025, she has received several government scholarships in these fields and held visiting appointments and fellow positions at prestigious European universities /institutions such as International Tribunal on the law of the sea (ITLOS) under the IFLOS program (Germany), The Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (Lund University, Sweden), Norwegians Centre for Human Rights at Oslo University (Norway), The Human Rights Centre of Abo Akademi University (Finland), The Hague Academy of International Law (the Netherlands), Yeosu Academy of the law of the sea (Korea). Currently, her research interests centre on studying the impacts of climate change on human rights law and sea law. For further information, please visit her ORCID at https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2703-2363.
