On July 22, in Hanoi, the Supervisory Delegation on the topic "Implementation of policies and laws on environmental protection since the Law on Environmental Protection 2020 took effect" had a working session with the Ministry of Finance.
Reporting to the Supervisory Delegation, Deputy Minister of Finance Do Thanh Trung said that the Ministry of Finance has advised the competent authority to issue and submit to the competent authority to issue 36 legal documents and related mechanisms and policies, in order to promptly implement the Law on Environmental Protection 2020.
In the 3 years, 2022 - 2024, the central budget's environmental protection expenditure estimate compared to the total annual state budget expenditure will reach 0.096%, 0.092% and 0.084%, respectively. For local budgets, these rates are 1.35%, 0.91% and 1.12%, respectively.
The investment capital for developing state budget sources for environmental protection projects in the period of 2021-2025 is estimated at about VND 20,908 billion (domestic VND 7,056 billion, foreign VND 13,852 billion).
This result is an increase compared to the period 2016 - 2020: An increase of 11.75% for ministries and branches and 21.72% for localities.
In addition, environmental protection resources are mobilized from other sources. Accordingly, the forest environmental service fee entrusted through the Vietnam Forest Protection and Development Fund reached VND 10,329 billion in the 2016-2021 period, and continues to maintain a significant revenue in recent years.
According to the Deputy Minister of Finance, the total revenue from taxes and environmental protection fees in the 2016-2019 period all increased, especially increasing sharply from 2019 due to tax rate adjustments.
In the period of 2020-2024, environmental protection tax revenue decreased due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic and tax reduction policies to support people and businesses.
The total amount of environmental protection taxes and fees collected in the period of 2022-2024 is about 141,118 billion VND; of which taxes are 120,668 billion VND, fees are 20,454 billion VND.
At the meeting, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Le Minh Hoan suggested that the Ministry focus on studying and amending laws on taxes and fees according to market principles, ensuring that pollutes must pay commensurate with the level of damage.
At the same time, there should be stronger incentive policies for investment activities in clean technology, recycling, reusing and circular economy; proactively grasp, guide and remove "bottlenecks" in policies and laws.
In addition, promote research and development of a legal framework and breakthrough mechanism to develop green financial markets and carbon markets; thereby mobilizing large resources from society, from the private sector and international for environmental protection, reducing pressure on the state budget.
Along with that, effectively implement the integration of environmental protection and climate change response content in socio-economic development strategies, planning, and plans.
The Vice Chairman of the National Assembly requested that priority should continue and the effectiveness of resource allocation for environmental protection should be improved. Ensure capital for key national environmental programs and projects, especially waste treatment, wastewater, environmental monitoring and pollution treatment at "hot spots".
The Ministry of Finance needs to tighten discipline and order in appraisal, approval of investment policies and capital allocation for investment projects, especially public investment, accordingly, it is necessary to resolutely not allocate capital for projects that do not fully comply with environmental laws.
