Six cities in India and Vietnam are set to start a $50 million ball rolling in the direction of Asian cities that are prepared to weather the impacts of climate change. The cities—Surat, Indore, and Gorakphur in India and Danang, Quy Nhon, and Can Tho in Vietnam—are to be the first members of the Rockefeller Foundation’s Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network, according to a Reuters report Wednesday.

The network, which will eventually expand to cities in Indonesia and Thailand, is meant to help the cities analyze their particular vulnerability to climate change-induced disaster and create plans to prepare and recover.

"While there is much discussion focused on mitigating future climate change, we must also address the impact of impending climate change, which is irreversible and will continue to accelerate in the coming decades," Foundation President Judith Rodin told reporters Tuesday.

The six cities, chosen because they have no existing major infrastructures to retrofit, will have access to climate scientists and civil and technical experts as they move forward, according to the Reuters report. Their progress will be used as a model for other cities in the initiative, which are expected to be on board by June of 2009.

Rockefeller officials hope to see network projects become a reality by 2012 through the use of their own funding and partners such as the World Bank. For more information on the initiative’s phasing and other aspects of the program, visit the Rockefeller Climate Change Initiative site.