On the morning of August 15, the Workshop "Solutions to reduce urban air pollution" was organized by Tuoi Tre Newspaper in coordination with the Department of Environment - Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, Department of Agriculture and Environment of Ho Chi Minh City, under the direction of central and local agencies.
Sharing at the event, Dr. Hoang Duong Tung - Chairman of the Vietnam Clean Air Network said that clean air is a luxury in some large cities today. In particular, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are continuously in the group of the most seriously polluted urban areas in the world, with PM2.5 fine dust levels often exceeding the safe threshold (those with kich thuoc less than 2.5um, less than 1/30 hair fibers)
According to statistics in the first 6 months of 2025, Ho Chi Minh City had up to 65 days of exceeding-standard pollution. On January 14, 2025, the air quality index (AQI) of Ho Chi Minh City was at 194, thereby ranking 4th in the list of most polluted cities in the world.
For Hanoi, in the first 6 months of 2025, there were more than 80 days with PM 2.5 concentration exceeding the bad and very bad threshold, with AQI waves at 200-250.
According to Mr. Hoang Duong Tung, there are many causes of air pollution, including traffic. In Ho Chi Minh City before the merger, there were up to 8.5 million motorbikes, more than 1.1 million cars, and emissions from these vehicles caused a large level of pollution. Waste sources at more than 3,000 industrial facilities in the area, suburban livestock facilities... are also the cause of air pollution in Ho Chi Minh City.
Regarding solutions, according to Mr. Tung, in the period from 2025 to 2030, digital transformation must be associated with green transformation. Improving air quality must be a top priority in the socio-economic development policy until 2030. Each locality needs to have specific targets and responsibilities (KPI) to reduce air pollution.
Meanwhile, a representative of the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies proposed 5 groups of solutions to reduce air pollution in Ho Chi Minh City. First is the planning of infrastructure - green urban areas, including increasing green space, green works, saving energy; controlling industrial emissions and dust in construction; improving waste management.
Developing green public transport, green energy; raising awareness, community participation... will also contribute to reducing air pollution in Ho Chi Minh City in the coming time.
After merging with Ba Ria - Vung Tau and Binh Duong provinces, Ho Chi Minh City has a population of about 14 million people, owns more than 11.4 million motorbikes and 1.3 million cars.
Road traffic is currently the largest source of emissions, accounting for 88% NOx, 99% CO, 79% SO2 and 88% fine dust in total traffic emissions in Ho Chi Minh City.
Air pollution from traffic causes an estimated economic damage of more than VND3,000 billion per year, equivalent to about 0.25% of Ho Chi Minh City's GRDP.
