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Improving effectiveness and efficiency of state management for reform in environmental protection

06/07/2016

Dr. Nguyễn Văn Tài

Director General of  Vietnam Environment Administration

   1. Vietnamese economic growth is gradually recovering with continued stable macro economy. However, economic development has been associated with negative impact on the environment. Many pressing issues have remained unsettled while new problems arise. Environmental pollution and degradation continue increasing. The risk for Viet Nam to become a world old technology landfill remains high. Illegal waste dumping and unsanitary landfills have formed many serious polluting hotspots. Untreated domestic wastewater has polluted most of the rivers, lakes, ponds and rivers running through urban areas. In some areas, pollution is serious and threatening people lives and production. Climate change, trans-boundary pollution and international economic integration have put significant pressure on the environment and worsened environmental issues.

   In this context, although environmental protection has taken advantages of opportunities to overcome challenges and to result in achievements, capacity for state management remains limited and insufficient for catching up with rapid and complex development of environmental issues. Public environmental awareness, attitude and behavior have not been changed. Resources for environmental protection are only able to partially meet demand. Shortcomings still exist in cooperation between central and local levels. Effective and unified coordination of environmental protection is still lacking. To address these issues, in 2016, state management of environmental protection needs to focus on the following three measures:

   First, raising awareness and changing behavior of the public and community on rights and responsibilities for environmental protection, improving quality and reforming methods of education and propaganda on environmental regulations, introducing environmental education in secondary education curriculum, and developing effective cooperative mechanisms between central and local levels in organizing environmental events and campaigns.

   Second, improving effectiveness and efficiency of environmental management instruments. These include improving efficiency and effectiveness of strategic environmental assessment and environmental impact assessment; enhancing inspection and supervision on environmental compliance, preventing and combating environmental crime; preventing import of polluting and outdated technology, machines and equipment; strengthening  control of waste generation, storage, transport and disposal of, especially for hazardous waste; developing and improving national environmental monitoring systems; building capacity for early warning, forecasting and proactively addressing disasters, adapting climate change; proactively participate in environmental and biodiversity assessment; developing a roadmap for transformation to an economy which is based on less and then non-polluting production patterns.

   Third, creating mechanisms for mobilizing funding for environmental protection from society; enhancing and diversifying funding sources for environmental protection, with focuses on investment in development of centralized solid waste treatment facilities, and remediation of chemical pesticide and war-time dioxin contaminated sites; and completing mechanisms and policies on mobilizing funding from various sources and socialization of environmental protection. The “polluters pay principle” shall be fully comprehended and implemented to provide funding for pollution remediation and environmental restoration. Beneficiaries from natural resources and environment shall be obliged to pay taxes for reinvestment in natural resource management and environmental protection.

  2. In addition to focusing on addressing the current shortcomings, to improve efficiency and effectiveness of state management of environmental protection, in 2016, the environmental sector needs to take measures to increase cooperation and coordination between central and local agencies. It is one of the priorities and could be accomplished through the following measure groups:

Nhiêu Lộc - Thị Nghè canal after cleaning

   First, improving quality, feasibility and practicality of environmental regulations to meeting requirements of international integration and development; priorities shall be given to developing and issuing regulations providing guidance on implementation of Law on Environmental Protection 2014; reviewing and developing economic and technical norms in environmental protection; gradually completing mechanism and policies to promote socialization in environmental protection; developing environmental services; rapidly introducing economic instruments in environmental protection;

   Second, improving effectiveness of current investment funding sources for environmental protection, including effective combination of central and local resources, state budgets and funding resources from other economic sectors and society; issuing enabling mechanism for enterprises and community to participate in environmental protection;

   Third, strengthening effectiveness and enforcement of state management instruments via enhanced cooperation between VEA and provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment, via dialogues, cooperation in inspection and supervision, sharing environmental data in states of the environment reports, and connecting environmental monitoring systems.

Encouraging and supporting enterprises investing in environmental protection works

  In 2016, an important year of gearing up for targets of 2016-2020, it is necessary to have joint effort and determination by all sectors and levels to implement tasks and measures. In the near future, VEA will advise Minister to propose to the Government solutions for better integration of environmental protection into socioeconomic development and natural resource exploitation; using environment as a measuring instrument of quality of growth and a criterion for evaluating socioeconomic performance of localities based on sustainable development goals adopted by United Nations Assembly.

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