Ho Chi Minh City has proposed the Ministry of Planning and Investment to use official development assistance (ODA) loans from the Dutch government in 2011 for a climate change project. The project, which is slated for the kick-start in the next four years, will focus on training human resources for management to deal with climate change. The project is aimed to raise people’s awareness of climate change, build up skills on holding manpower training programs to adapt to climate change and its possible consequences. Vice Mayor Nguyen Trung Tin said HCM City is listed among ten cities worldwide to be hardest hit by climate change, emphasizing the urgency to effectively exploit marine resources. Rising temperatures and rainfalls inundated nearly 117 wards during the rainy season in 2009, Tin said, adding that if sea level rises by 75cm in 2050, 10% of the city’s areas will be completely underwater. Experts said impacts of climate change have been showing clear signs not only in the Mekong Delta region but also in the whole country. Tidal surges have caused serious waterlogging in Ho Chi Minh City and salt intrusion in the southern provinces of Ben Tre, Ca Mau and Soc Trang over the past years. (sggp.org.vn Nov 22 p9)
