The Decision Support Tool (DST) for the Coastal Protection for the Mekong Delta (CPMD) provides an analysis of the current geographical, geological and hydrological situation along the Mekong Delta’s coastline. Besides a surveillance of changes of the coastal regimes over the last decades until today, it also includes an assessment of the major coastal protection infrastructure, including dykes and sluice gates, embankments as well as eco-based foreshore protections such as the mangrove belt. Climate Change, however, adds the future as a new perspective and changes the parameters of the DST “equation” through the application of different climate models and scenarios.
This essay elaborates on the role of tailor made Climate Services for decision-making advice for coastal infrastructure planning and how Climate Services can be incorporated into the DST handled by the Vietnamese Government.