VietNamNet Bridge – The southern province of Kien Giang needs more than US$44 million to cope with climate change, according to the German International Cooperation (GIZ).

Of the sum, US$750,000 will be used to reinforce 25km of sea dykes, US$450,000 to build a 30km fence to keep mud for forest plantation and prevent coastal erosion.

The remaining money will be spent on restoring and developing 100 ha of coastal mangroves.

The total amount of funding will be mobilized from international organizations and the government budget for reinforcing the sea dyke system stretching from Quang Ngai to Kien Giang Province.

According GIZ experts, it is urgent to help the coastal areas of Kien Giang Province adapt to climate change in a sustainable manner.   

Kien Giang has a coastline of 200km and large mangrove forests which make up 74 percent of coastal areas. But more than half of sea dykes have been damaged in recent years.

* Climate change hikes flood risks

Latest research estimates 39 per cent of the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta and more than 20 per cent of HCM City would be flooded by the end of this century if sea levels rise by one metre.

Director of the Viet Nam Institute of Meteorology Hydrology and Environment Tran Thuc said that the latest studies on the effects of climate change and rising sea levels also predicted the same problem would affect more than 10 per cent of the Hong (Red) Delta and 2.5 per cent of the central region.

"The new research is more in depth than the 2009 version, and has more detailed figures on temperatures, rainfall and rising sea levels," Thuc said.

The scenario would affect 35 per cent and 7 per cent of the population in the Mekong Delta and HCM City respectively, said Thuc, adding that more than 4 per cent of railways and 9 per cent of national highway systems would be affected.

Thuc was speaking at a conference held by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE), the UNDP and the National Assembly's Committee for Science, Technology and Environment in Ha Noi on Monday to report to National Assembly deputies about the implementation of the national plan for climate change, which started in 2008.

Le Cong Thanh, director of MONRE's Centre for Meteorology, Hydrology and Climate Change, said that one problem in coping with climate change was the slowness in putting climate change issues into social and economic development policies.

"Many localities are still not ready to build their own action plans for climate change," Thanh said, adding that only 30 out of the total 65 cities and provinces nationwide had plans in place.

UNDP Resident Representative Louise Chamberlain said that Viet Nam should manage public finance to stimulate private sector investment in climate change plans since the State budget alone would not be enough while the national and international private sector held vast amounts of investment potential and modern technology.

"The private sector requires cohesive, transparent and above all a predictable policy and a level playing field in order to generate green investments," she said.

Chamberlain also said that increasing taxes on fossil fuels and enhancing the environmental tax law should be considered.

"The aim of such so-called green policies is to shift the market incentives to encourage more investment in renewable technology, which is now not yet feasible because the energy price in Viet Nam is still very low," she added.

VNN/VOV/VNS