The Vietnamese ministries will seek for around $3.5 billion-$5 billion funds more from foreign sponsors to deal with climate change in the 13 Mekong Delta provinces in the 2011-2015 period, said Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Pham Khoi Nguyen. Minister Nguyen said at the 2010 Mekong Environment and Climate Symposium in HCM City that the funding will be for sea dike construction, forestation and emigration, the Thoi bao kinh te Sai Gon newspaper reported. We [Vietnam] will have to seek solutions and financial sources and give top priorities to mitigate damages by climate change to the region’s economy and society, Nguyen said, adding the region is encountering the most severe drought and salinity intrusion over the past 50 years. Participants at the symposium warned that worsening effects of climate change could threaten food security for Vietnam and other countries if essential measures are not taken immediately. Aslam Perwaiz, manager of the Commission’s Flood Management Program said the threats to food security could emerge by 2030 when the region’s rainfall from Jan to Jul will have decreased by around 20% from 1980, and by more than 25% in An Giang, Kien Giang and Ca Mau. The Mekong Delta is the large wetland with rich biodiversity for food security and fishery, accounting 50% of the country’s total unhusked rice output, 60% of total fishery output and 50% of meat and egg production output.
