Hanoi, on September 29th, 2013, Centre for Marinelife Conservation and Community Development (MCD) with the Communist Youth Unions of Nam Dinh, Thai Binh, Hai Phong and Khanh Hoa provinces, co – organized a chain of activities named Youth and Community Action for Coastal Cleanup (Youth&CCC). Youth&CCC aims at raising awareness of climate change and role of youths in climate change adaptation in the coastal community in Vietnam with the slogan Clean Ocean, Green Future.

Youth&CCC focuses on raising awareness and encouraging resilience to climate change in the coastal provinces of Vietnam, of which the youth plays an important part. The focal event is the Youth and Community Action for Coastal Cleanup day, happening in September 2013 in 4 provinces of Nam Dinh, Thai Binh, Hai Phong and Khanh Hoa. There are 100 representatives coming from central and local authorities, the Communist Youth Unions, the environmental clubs in Hanoi and other 1,600 volunteers from universities. The volunteers will be divided into small groups to collect and classify trash in chosen coastal areas, which makes preparation to fulfil the trash report of International Coastal Cleanup (ICC). The report will supply information for both Vietnam and international organizations to give solutions to reduce rubbish in Vietnamese coast.

Mr. Nguyen Hoang Tung, Deputy Secretary of the Communist Youth Union of Nam Dinh, said: “The Youth and Community Action for Coastal Cleanup brings long – term and sustainable effectiveness for environment in coastal areas. We had specific plans to spread the messages of climate change and environment over a large number of youth”.

“You are wrong if you think that the program just encourages people to pick up litters on beaches”, Tran Van Cuong, an intern of the Blue Light House program said. “Just when we know how trash impacts environment, we will know how to reduce them. The way of researching is more creative and efficient than other normal activities. That’s why we chose youth, the future owners of our country, to be the main force”, he added.

In Vietnam, the movement of International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) was first held on September 23rd, 2000 in Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa by the Centre for Marinelife Conservation and Community Development (MCD). In the past 13 years, the program has attracted 10, 000 participants with over 3 tons of trash collected in 6 coastal provinces of Vietnam. The Centre for Marinelife Conservation and Community Development (MCD) and the Communist Youth Unions hope that the program will bring fresh air for the pro-environment activities and deeply impact on public awareness.