Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved the allocation of VND3 trillion ($140 million) from the state budget in 2015 for climate change projects. The program include 16 unfinished projects under the Support Program to Respond to Climate Change (SP-RCC) in previous years, and those on planting forest in coastal marshes and river upstream regions. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Minister of Planning and Investment will take responsibility for disbursing the money and ensure good implementation. Vietnam, one of five hardest-hit countries by climate change, is likely to suffer damage worth $1.9 billion from climate change annually, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT). Since 2009, the Southeast Asian country has borrowed roughly $1 billion from foreign countries and organizations for climate change response programs. (Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam – Vietnam Economic Times Jan 19 p2)
