The challenges of climate change loom large as Vietnam struggles to cope with the effects of Typhoon Yagi, including prolonged energy interruptions, serious damage to roads and bridges, and the forced evacuation of over 100, 000 people.
Rising sea levels threaten to bury sections of the Mekong Delta, Vietnam’s grain dish. Farmland are already being destroyed by saltwater intrusion, and more intense storms and floods are wreaking havoc on areas.
Vietnam is not the only country to have experienced catastrophic and record-breaking floods in the lower Mekong basin over the past month. The need for strong climate actions and resilience planning in the region is underscored by these growing climate impacts.
Yet at this critical moment, one of Vietnam’s most important climate defenders, Dang Dinh Bach, is two weeks into a hunger strike – not from the frontlines of the climate challenge, but from behind prison bars.
The Asian government’s continued crackdown on civil society, climate activists, and other environmental activists is undermining both global climate goals and fundamental human rights, according to Bach’s protest.  ,
Bach and his family have lodged almost 30 formal complaints about abuse and cruel conditions in jail, only to have the prison officials ignore during his three years behind bars.
Bach feels compelled to take this drastic step, which is in great danger for his health, to raise awareness of the plight of elderly and infirm captives who are living alongside him in terrible detention conditions.
Bach’s demands are simple and fair: prohibit solitary confinement, enable prisoners time outdoors for exercise and social contact, ensure electric safety, allow the exchange of books and enough lighting for reading, and ensure contact and communication with family are not unilaterally restricted.
Most immediately, Bach calls for proper medical care for prisoners with hidden disease, a critical public health measure in the high-risk prison setting. These fundamental changes may help Vietnam’s prisons more closely adhere to the UN’s Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners and Convention Against Torture.
The Universal Periodic Review for Vietnam, a friend review of Vietnam’s human rights report that occurs every 4.5 years, came to an end last week at the 57th treatment of the UN Human Rights Council.
During the engaging speech, the International Federation for Human Rights , made a statement , highlighting Bach’s event and the cruel treatment he is enduring in jail. The statement emphasized the continuous and comprehensive harassment and harassment of human rights activists in Vietnam, as well as the oppression of civil society, including those promoting environmental and climate change.
The Taiwanese authorities accepted suggestions for improving the famous prison system, including ensuring problems in accordance with the UN Standard Minimum Rules, as part of its response to the evaluation process. The necessity of putting these pledges into exercise is highlighted by Bach’s hunger strike.  ,
Contrary to its stated commitments to both human right and weather justice, the state rejected all suggestions that would call for an end to the abuse and targeting of human rights supporters and the oppression of civil society.
Bach has worked since joining the Law and Policy of Sustainable Development Research Centre and has dedicated his legal advocacy occupation to empowering areas.
He played a significant role in rewriting Vietnam’s environmental protection laws, enforcing regulations for cheap waste, and pushing for a shift from coal power. Composers trained over 100 young professionals, building a new generation of climate soldiers in Vietnam.
Bach became a target for this powerful job in particular. In the weeks before his imprisonment, Bach led a 17-day strategy to decrease Vietnam’s rely on fuel.
Soon after, he was detained on trumped-up charges of tax evasion – claims that the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention , has deemed ,” a violation of international law on the grounds of prejudice based on political or other view, related to his economic work”.
Bach’s case is not isolated. Since 2021, six of Vietnam’s most prominent climate leaders have been imprisoned on similar dubious charges. The silencing of influential voices like Bach’s fundamentally reduces the ability for Vietnam and other nations to make crucial transitions to clean energy.
Without active civil society involvement, there is a real chance that global climate agreements wo n’t produce meaningful change or even worsen existing disparities or harms to the environment.  ,
Bach’s hunger strike is a stark and appropriate reminder of both the human and climate costs of state oppression. The 29th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change ( COP29 ) will convene next month in Azerbaijan, where the international community will gather.
Azerbaijan is also incarcerating prominent climate activists and environmentalists in parallel with Vietnam, accelerating a crackdown on independent civil society.  ,
Allowing these injustices to remain unreported eliminates crucial opportunities to challenge the status quo, undermining international efforts to address climate change and the credibility of multilateral forums. This is true in Vietnam, Azerbaijan, and throughout the world.
The international community must make every diplomatic and economic tool available to secure Bach’s immediate and unconditional release, as well as the release of climate activists and environmental advocates from other countries, and ensure that all commitments are based on respect for human rights.  ,
As Bach wrote shortly before his arrest,” Only when]we ] enter an era of genuine national development, built on rule of law and respect for human rights, can we hope to address the climate crisis”.
Andrea Giorgetta is the International Federation for Human Rights ( FIDH)’s Asia desk director, and Maureen Harris is the Vietnam Climate Defenders Coalition’s coordinator and senior advisor at International Rivers.