The Mekong Delta region, an area sensitive to environmental changes, faces great challenges from climate change, requiring regional localities to come up with an effective strategy to adapt to extreme weather conditions, reduce emissions and increase recovery capacity, according to experts.
A climate change scenario created in 2016 showed that if the sea level rises by 100 cm, and if no solutions are taken, some 39% of the total area of Mekong Delta will face the risk of flooding. Localities with the highest risk are Hau Giang (over 80% of area), Kien Giang (nearly 77%) and Ca Mau (about 58%).
Alongside, each year, erosion will also cause a loss of about 300 hectares of land and mangrove forest, it said. Currently, the Mekong Delta region has 564 erosion sites with a total length of over 834km, including 512 sites along river banks with a total length of about 566km, mostly along Tien, Hau, Vam Co Dong and Vam Co Tay rivers. This includes the main branches of canals, together with 52 sites of coastal erosion areas with a total length of 268km.
Can Tho city, Ca Mau and Kien Giang provinces are three localities hardest hit by climate change from high tide, erosion, heat, storms, tornadoes, not to mention other negative factors such as saltwater intrusion, environmental pollution and epidemics.
Strategies to adapt
Dr. Muthukumara Mani, an environment expert from the World Bank (WB) in Vietnam, said Vietnam in general and the Mekong Delta in particular need to work in two directions to respond to climate change – reducing emissions and increasing the resilience of the economy. In the first direction, solutions to reduce emissions must be implemented simultaneously in the fields of transport, agriculture and industry through mechanisms of emission pricing and emission taxation, which requires an investment of 114 million USD until 2040. In the second direction, a budget of about 254 million USD is needed in the 2022-2040 period to strengthen the recovery capacity of the economy, thus protecting resources, infrastructure and people from climate risks, especially in vulnerable sectors and communities.
According to a master plan of the Mekong Delta in the 2021 – 2030 period with a vision to 2050, the urban system of the region will be built with rational distribution in urban areas, along the main development corridors of the climate-resilient region.
With development orientations in harmony with the nature, the Government has issued Resolution No.120 on the sustainable growth of the Mekong Delta region with adaptation to climate change. The resolution clarified the crucial need to change the development mindset from sole agricultural production focusing on rice to a diversified agricultural economy to meet the needs of the market. Another change in perception that is required is from quantity to quality with the application of high technology, organic agriculture and clean agriculture associated with value chains and brand building, and greater attention on developing processing and supporting industries for agriculture.
Promoting renewable energy
At the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh delivered Vietnam’s strong commitment to net-zero emission by 2050. Energy transition is an indispensable factor to achieve the goals of sustainable development and climate change adaptation of Vietnam in general and the Mekong Delta in particular.
Associate Prof. Dr. Nguyen Dinh Tho, Director of the Institute of Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment said that the Mekong Delta region boast high potential in developing renewable energy and can become a motivation for Vietnam to complete the commitments.
With the advantage of a long coastline, the Mekong Delta region has high potential in offshore wind power development, especially in Bac Lieu, Ben Tre, Soc Trang and Tra Vinh provinces.
Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the People’s Committee of Bac Lieu Pham Van Thieu said that Bac Lieu has 56km coastline and full conditions to become a wind power production hub. Under a wind power development plan to 2030, Bac Lieu’s wind power potential could reach 3,500MW. Currently, the province has eight operating wind power projects with a total investment of nearly 23.9 trillion VND (1.01 billion USD) and a combined capacity of 469MW, ranking third in the country. They have contributed 450 billion VND to the provincial State budge collection each year, he said.
Meanwhile in Tra Vinh, implementation of policies on power development, especially those on renewable power, has been intensified. Currently, the province has five wind power plants with a total capacity of 256.8 MW. Recently, Tra Vinh has started construction of a green hydrogen factory on an area of over 20 hectares with a total investment of nearly 8 trillion VND. Chairman of the Tra Vinh People’s Committee Le Van Ha said that the production of green hydrogen from renewable energy will be developed in line with the strategy for the development of Vietnam’s chemical industry to 2030, with a vision to 2040.
In order to create a driving force for production transformation to adapt to climate change in the right direction and with high efficiency, localities in the Mekong Delta have focused on transferring and applying science and technology in the fields of cultivation, breeding and aquaculture. They are also encouraging local enterprises to participate in science and technology research, transfer and application to make breakthroughs in improvement of productivity and quality of agricultural products as well as their competitiveness./.
