The Netherlands Embassy has collaborated with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to hold a conference on the planning of Mekong Delta towards climate change adaptation from February 22nd to 24th. The conference attracted the attendance of senior experts from 6 ministries, agencies and representatives from 13 cities, provinces of the Mekong Delta.
Illustration image (Source: vietnamtourism.gov.vn)
At the conference, the Dutch experts to introduce long-term adaptation methods to climate change and sea level rise; the valuable experience of the world leading country in building sea dikes for flood control were also mentioned.
The conference will discuss and exchange about the Mekong Delta plan co-written by the Netherlands and Viet Nam. Based on the analysis and evaluation of the plan, the localities will make overall recommendations for each locality.
Tom Kombier - First Secretary of Water and Climate, the Netherlands Embassy in Viet Nam said that the biggest challenge for Viet Nam currently is how to cooperate among the ministries, sectors and localities in terms of common interests, or in other words, how to make the planning work at Mekong Delta level and scale instead of relying solely on a locality or a specialized body. The cooperation and information sharing among ministries, sectors and localities is the key to solve the challenges of climate change.
"The important thing for Viet Nam is building appropriate structure and mechanisms for receiving, allocating financial resources to climate change. Viet Nam should establish a joint coordination committee for the Mekong Delta" said Tom Kombier- First Secretary of Water and Climate, the Netherlands Embassy in Viet Nam.
The proposals by ministries, sectors and localities will be collected by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment; the recommendations will be included into a report on the planning on Mekong Delta sustainable development then be submitted to the Government.