Vietnam Hosts Regional Seminar on Climate Change in Mekong River Valley

Nearly 200 officials from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam are taking part in a regional conference in Ho Chi Minh City from April 26-27 to seek measures to protect environment and adapt to climate change in the Mekong River valley. The officials from five member countries of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) reported that the valley is forecast to be one of the seriously affected regions by climate change, the state-run Vietnam News Agency said. The Mekong River system will face environmental challenges in next few decades, they noted, adding that the low-lying and downstream areas such as the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam will be hardest hit.  Vietnam is listed among five hardest-hit by climate change countries. If sea levels rise by one meter, 38% of the country’s delta and coastal areas will be submerged.