The national environmental protection planning project for the 2021 – 2030 period, with a vision to 2050, was announced on November 15 by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

Deputy Minister Le Cong Thanh was quoted by the Vietnam News Agency as saying at the announcing ceremony that the project has been designed with a strong commitment to environmental protection and a consistent principle of not trading off the environment for economic development, but respecting natural rules, and promoting a sustainable growth model built on a green economy, circular economy, and low-carbon economy aimed at minimizing waste and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

The plan is flexible and forward-looking, focusing on early prevention and long-term management of environmental challenges, according to the news agency.

Under the project, key priorities include tackling pollution, improving environmental quality, and safeguarding sensitive areas to reduce negative impacts on both the environment and public health.

The planning project’s objectives are to proactively prevent and control environmental pollution and degradation, to restore and improve environmental quality, and to prevent decline but enhance biodiversity in order to ensure the people's right to live in a healthy environment on the basis of rational spatial arrangement and management zoning of environmental quality.

It also aims to direct the establishment of nature reserves and biodiversity conservation areas; form centralized waste treatment zones at the national, regional, and provincial levels; orient the development of national and provincial environmental monitoring and warning networks; and promote sustainable socio-economic development towards green economy, circular economy and low-carbon economy, which is harmonious with nature, and environmentally friendly, and actively responds to climate change.

Specifically, the direction of environmental zoning will be uniformed on a national scale based on criteria of environmental sensitivity, which are prone to damage from pollution impacts. This aims to minimize negative impacts on the lives and normal development of human and creatures.

Meanwhile, natural values, biodiversity and natural heritage will be preserved to restore and maintain natural ecosystems, and prevent the trend of biodiversity loss on the basis of consolidating, expanding, establishing and effectively managing nature reserves, biodiversity corridors, high biodiversity areas, important natural landscapes, important wetlands and conservation facilities to store, conserve and develop endemic, endangered and rare genetic resources, and plant and animal varieties.

By 2030, the total area of the protected nature reserves nationwide is expected to reach about 6.7 million hectares.

Centralized waste treatment zones at the national, regional, and provincial levels will be formed with suitable capacity scales and treatment technologies, thus meeting the requirements of receiving and processing the entire amount of domestic solid waste, normal industrial solid waste and hazardous waste generated nationwide, minimizing the amount of solid waste directly buried, classifying waste at source, and promoting recycling and reuse of waste.

Accordingly, by 2030, at least two national-level centralized waste treatment zones and seven regional-level ones in socio-economic regions during the planning period will be set up, and at least one provincial-level in each province or centrally-run city.

As for the national environmental monitoring and warning network, environmental monitoring and warning stations will be built at inter-regional, inter-provincial, and cross-border areas, and those of important significance for the country’s nature conservation and socio-economic development.

Under the planning project, by 2050, Vietnam aims to achieve good environmental quality, ensure a healthy living environment for its people, effectively conserve biodiversity and maintain ecological balance. It will also actively respond to climate change, and advance towards sustainable development through a green transition based on the development of circular economy, green economy, and low-carbon economy, with goals of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 and ensuring environmental security associated with rapid and sustainable socio-economic development.

To that end, actions will be taken to improve public awareness; perfect mechanisms, policies, and laws relating to environmental protection; speed up administrative procedures; increase the application of scientific-technological advances and digital transformation; and enhance international cooperation in this field