The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment will submit a strategy on climate change to the Government for final approval by early June this year.
Deputy Minister Tran Hong Ha told the Daily on Tuesday that the draft strategy would be completed this month after collecting suggestions from international and domestic scientists.
Scientists and environmentalists in northern and central provinces will gather at a seminar in Hanoi next week to discuss the strategy on adapting to negative impacts of climate change for the country within the next 50 years, he said.
“The national strategy on adaptation to climate change will include concrete actions and prospects until 2050 with a vision to 2100. It will focus on some main actions such as the construction of coastal breakwaters, and irrigation works to fight seawater intrusion and prevent high tides,” he said.
According to a latest calculation by the World Bank, Vietnam needs to spend some US$850 million each year between now and 2050 on the basic works to adapt to climate change.
At a seminar on climate change organized in HCMC on March 18, a representative of the World Bank said Vietnam needs the mentioned budget for the four main sectors including US$160 million for agriculture and US$450 million for basic infrastructure.
Vietnam is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change in the coming years.
Scientists said if global temperatures surged by 2-3 degrees Celsius, sea levels would rise by 75 centimeters and that vast areas along the coast and the Mekong Delta would be submerged under water. If sea levels rose by one meter, 38% of the land area in the delta would be permanently flooded.
Related to a decision of Laos to postpone construction of Xayaburi Hydropower Dam, Ha of the environment ministry said that was a positive signal from the Lao government. He stressed that if the Xayaburi dam was constructed, millions of people in the lower Mekong River would be badly affected by the depletion of aquatic products.
Ha also said Vietnam and the Netherlands had started a project on adapting to climate change for the Mekong Delta. The project focuses on mapping out sustainable development solutions for the water-clogged area in the coming years.
