The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) has submitted a plan to the government to launch 24 climate change response projects in the Mekong Delta for 2017-2020, including nine transit and 15 new projects.

The projects focus on building and upgrading sea and river dykes in key areas, constructing salinity control systems and fresh water reservoirs for production, plant and restore coastal mangrove forests and create sustainable livelihoods for the people.

The total cost is estimated at 11 trillion VND (478 million USD), including 3,269 billion VND for transit projects and the remaining for new projects.

Tran Phong, Director General of the Vietnam Environment Administration’s southern chapter, said the total funding for 2017-2020 climate change response projects increase 2.7-fold from the previous period.

The Steering Committee for Southwestern Region reported that coastal and riverside land erosion in the Mekong Delta remained complicated in the first half, especially in Ca Mau, Bac Lieu, Soc Trang, Tra Vinh and Ben Tre provinces.

Kien Giang records 70km of coastal land erosion, 30 km of which faces serious erosion. Meanwhile in Ca Mau and Bac Lieu, the disaster greatly hurts aquaculture.

VNA