Action orders from the Mekong Delta

World Environment Day 2026, on June 5-6, was launched by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) with the straightforward message: “A Global Call for Climate Action.” This slogan is a strong affirmation of action-oriented thinking, demonstrating that the era of campaign-based commitments is over. It is time for substantive action to enhance the resilience of ecosystems and realize the Net Zero goal by 2050. In Vietnam, this macro-level spirit has been elevated to a survival strategy. A revolution in disaster response thinking is underway to protect the Mekong Delta – the nation's largest rice and seafood granary.

The Mekong Delta holds a special position, contributing 95% of the country's rice exports, 60% of its seafood production, and 65% of its fruit. However, this fertile land is facing an imminent disaster as the extreme impacts of global climate change combine with upstream exploitation pressures and internal vulnerabilities. According to the representative greenhouse gas concentration scenario RCP4.5, by the end of this century, if sea levels rise by 1 meter, approximately 40% of the delta's area will be submerged.

However, natural disasters are not a story of the future but are occurring fiercely every day. The depth of flooding due to high tides has increased by 5-6% compared to the previous decade. Even more alarming, the delta is sinking from within, with a common subsidence rate of 0.5-3 cm per year. Data from the past five years shows that many areas have subsided by more than 10 cm. This is accompanied by the devastating effects of road subsidence, riverbank and coastal erosion, and other increasingly complex problems.

The nature of this tragedy lies in part in the significant changes in both the quantity and quality of transboundary water resources. According to the Mekong River Commission, the operation of 128 upstream reservoirs up to 2024 has retained up to 96% of fine sediment. The consequences of sediment shortages, illegal sand mining upstream, the expansion of irrigated areas by 37% by neighboring countries, and the operation of the Funan Canal under adverse conditions have reduced water flow, causing saltwater intrusion into inland areas 1-1.5 months earlier. Within the region, the indiscriminate increase in cultivated land and aquaculture has led to excessive groundwater extraction, causing groundwater levels to drop by 0.31-0.81 m/year… Clearly, this “double” pressure is directly threatening water security and the stability of people's lives.

Against this backdrop of numerous challenges, the Politburo 's Conclusion No. 26-KL/TW dated April 24, 2026, on preventing and combating subsidence, landslides, flooding, drought, and saltwater intrusion in the Mekong Delta region during the 2026-2035 period (Conclusion 26) has outlined a strategic vision. The Conclusion mandates a fundamental shift in old management thinking: moving from reactive response to proactive adaptation, respecting natural laws, using people's lives as a benchmark, and maintaining the environment as a fundamental principle.

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This spirit of concrete action has been institutionalized. In May 2026, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment completed the implementation plan and finalized the first draft of the Government's resolution. Simultaneously, a massive amount of resources, including 8 key projects with a total budget of over 32,593 billion VND, was urgently included in the public investment plan for the 2026-2030 period to address land subsidence, landslides, and saline intrusion.

At the press conference launching the series of events in response to World Environment Day in early June 2026, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Dang Ngoc Diep frankly declared: This year's national environmental event series will not stop at mere communication activities. The environment knows no administrative boundaries; every forum must become a practical tool to receive feedback from grassroots practice, thoroughly remove institutional bottlenecks, and unify actions. To put policies into practice, relevant agencies and the Vietnam Fatherland Front will concretize the movement with a set of criteria: "5 target groups, 5 criteria." This measure forces local authorities to decisively implement solutions in waste sorting at source, tighten management of construction along rivers, and control all sources of damage to the delta. Furthermore, solving the water resource problem cannot be a solitary effort within the region, but requires a responsible diplomatic mechanism with neighboring countries. This will foster close connections with upstream countries sharing the Mekong River, enabling joint coordination, benefit sharing, and the protection of ecological security throughout the entire basin.

However, responsible community action is crucial: littering must stop, and the indiscriminate exploitation of sand and groundwater must cease. People must proactively agree to shift crop structures, replicate smart agricultural and aquaculture models that use less water and reduce emissions, in line with the "harmonious with nature" approach.

On World Environment Day, June 5, 2026, viewed from the heart of the Mekong Delta, the spirit of "Global Action for Climate Change" is no longer a slogan, but a survival imperative. The hope is that the Southwestern region of Vietnam will cease its anxieties about an impending climate change scenario, and instead demonstrate determination, consensus, and resilience in action to transform its own destiny in the face of climate change.

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Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/menh-lenh-hanh-dong-tu-dbscl-a206258.html