On World Environment Day (June 5) and World Oceans Day (June 8), we will reflect more deeply on an important issue of the times, which is the relationship between humans and nature facing major changes, requiring a new approach to development, responsibility and action. Safe environment and peaceful, sustainable oceans are the central issues of development, security, peace, justice, ethics and longevity of nations and peoples.
The world today is witnessing unprecedented profound changes in the ecological environment. Earth is constantly warming up, extreme weather, ice melting, sea level rise, droughts, floods, forest fires, saltwater intrusion, biodiversity decline, marine and ocean environmental pollution are directly impacting all continents. That imbalance shows that the limits of nature are being pushed to a dangerous level.
These challenges pose a big question for humanity: is development sustainable if the ecological foundation that nurtures life is eroded? For centuries, humans have created great achievements in industry, science, technology, commerce and urbanization. But the development model that relies too much on resource exploitation, fossil fuel consumption, linear production and wasteful consumption culture also leaves heavy ecological consequences.
From that awareness, environmental protection must be seen as a core content of national security and human security. A country can have high growth, but if people have to live in pollution and environmental degradation, it cannot be considered sustainable development. A modern and prosperous society must be a society that knows how to get rich within ecological limits, use resources responsibly, and consider nature as a condition for survival, as a national asset and as a heritage of future generations.
The ocean further shows the interconnected impact of humanity. Climate change or instability in an ocean region can affect food security, trade, energy and livelihoods of many countries. Therefore, protecting the ocean is not only an environmental obligation but also a requirement of peace, cooperation, international law, fair development and common responsibility of the international community.
For Vietnam, these issues are of particularly profound significance. Vietnam is a maritime nation, heavily affected by climate change. More than 3,260 km of coastline, two large plains, dense river systems, many coastal cities, where millions of fishermen and communities live, so our country is vulnerable to sea level rise, storms and floods, saltwater intrusion, landslides, pollution, resource degradation and ecological fluctuations, as well as overexploitation of nature.
In that context, Vietnam has shown strong responsibility to the international community through its commitment to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, promoting a fair energy transition, reducing ocean plastic waste, developing a circular economy, conserving biodiversity and implementing the Marine Economic Sustainable Development Strategy. These commitments are not external obligations, but the inherent needs of the country. Vietnam wants to develop quickly and sustainably, to become a high-income country, it must implement innovation in the country's development model based on science and technology, digital transformation and ensuring ecological environmental safety.
Cultural traditions of regions, regions and Vietnamese villages have long contained the spirit of harmony with nature. In the new era, that tradition needs to be elevated to a modern development value system: respect for nature, resource saving, responsible consumption, cleaner production, greener technology, more transparent and fairer governance between generations.
President Ho Chi Minh, with his broad vision, from a very early age placed people, nature and the future of the nation in a unified whole. He instructed: "For the sake of ten years, plant trees, for the sake of a hundred years, plant people". In that thought, "planting trees" is a practical action to build a living environment; "planting people" is a fundamental cause to build a developing subject with knowledge, morality and responsibility. He also wrote: "Spring is Tet planting trees, making the country increasingly spring". That is a simple but timeless call, each green tree planted is a hope for the future, each action to protect nature is a way to make the country more sustainable, beautiful and humane.
Regarding the sea and islands, he once advised the people of Cat Ba and Cat Hai: "...forests are gold, sea is silver. Sea forests belong to us, and are mastered by our people, we must strive to exploit and protect them..." That saying contains a profound development view, the right to master resources always goes hand in hand with the responsibility of preserving and exploiting, and must be associated with protecting and developing today, thinking about tomorrow. The sea is not only an economic resource but also a space for survival, a space of sovereignty, a cultural space, a connecting space and a strategic space of the Vietnamese nation.
From Ho Chi Minh's ideology and the requirements of the times, we need to establish a consistent guiding viewpoint that green development, environmental protection, ocean protection and climate change response must become a pillar of the country's development model in the new era. This is not a private matter of the natural resources and environment sector but a common task of the entire political system, business community, each locality, each family and each citizen.
To do so, in the coming time, it is necessary to focus on six major task groups.
First, improve development thinking and environmental governance institutions in the direction of considering nature as the foundation of sustainable development. All strategies, plans, programs, and development projects must be placed within the load-bearing limits of the ecosystem, climate adaptation capacity and the requirements of protecting people's health. It is necessary to change the thinking from post-development pollution treatment to pollution prevention right from the development design. Innovate environmental and resource governance methods in a comprehensive, inter-sectoral, inter-regional direction. Expand development metrics, not stopping at output or growth rate but including quality of life, resource utilization efficiency, emissions levels, climate resilience capacity and social justice. Institutions must ensure the principle that polluters must pay costs, natural protectors must benefit, local green development must be encouraged, green innovation businesses must be supported, and acts of environmental destruction must be strictly handled.
Second, promote green transformation in the growth model, energy structure, production, consumption and urbanization. Green transformation must become a driving force to improve national competitiveness. It is necessary to promote the use of energy economically and efficiently, develop renewable energy in accordance with system security, gradually reduce dependence on fossil fuels, promote low-emission industry, ecological agriculture, public transport, green buildings, green materials and circular economy. Businesses must be placed at the center of the transformation process, because businesses themselves are the place to innovate technology, reorganize supply chains, create green jobs and meet new standards of the international market. The State needs to have green financial policies, green credit, green public procurement, emission standards, carbon pricing mechanisms and support small and medium-sized enterprises to access technology, capital and markets.
Third, develop a green, modern, responsible marine economy, associated with protecting sovereignty, people's livelihoods and peace at sea. Vietnam considers preserving the marine environment, protecting marine ecosystems, sustainable marine economic development must go hand in hand with maintaining peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation, respecting international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea; persistently resolving disputes by peaceful means, and jointly building the East Sea into a Sea of cooperation, responsibility and sustainable development. Vietnam will establish a more modern marine economic development model based on science, technology, marine data, marine ecosystem conservation; developing a system of green seaports, offshore renewable energy, marine biological industry, marine island ecotourism, maritime services, etc. It is necessary to strictly control illegal seafood exploitation, protect aquatic resources, and improve fishermen's lives.
Fourth, restoring natural ecosystems and building climate adaptation capacity as a strategic infrastructure of the nation. Investing in nature is investing in the future. Actively preventing and combating natural disasters, water security, food security, community health and stabilizing livelihoods. Priority should be given to restoring headwater forests, coastal forests, mangrove forests. Strictly protect sensitive ecosystems; control sand, groundwater, and coastal resources exploitation. Building climate-adapted cities, rebuilding river, lake, and canal space; improving forecasting capacity, early warning and disaster risk management. For the Mekong Delta, coastal Central region, northern mountainous areas and large cities, climate adaptation must become the core content of development planning, public investment and ensuring social security.
Fifth, build an environmental governance system based on science, data, digital technology and social participation. It is necessary to build a national data system on emissions, water quality, air, waste, biodiversity, marine resources, landslides, saltwater intrusion, climate risks and compliance with environmental standards of enterprises. Satellite technology, artificial intelligence, environmental sensors, digital maps, sea and island databases, disaster forecast models and people's reflection platforms need to be widely applied. People have the right to know about the quality of the environment where they live, enterprises have an obligation to be transparent about environmental impacts, state agencies must make decisions based on evidence and be responsible to the people. Along with that, it is necessary to promote environmental education in schools, communities and society; scientific communication, green lifestyle, waste sorting at source, reducing single-use plastic products and building an ecological citizen culture throughout society.
Sixth, ensure fairness in green transformation and strengthen international cooperation for climate, environment and oceans. Green transformation can only succeed when it is a fair, inclusive and humane process. Poor people, workers in high-emission industries, coastal communities, women, children and vulnerable groups need support in livelihoods, vocational training, finance, risk insurance, adaptive infrastructure and access to social services. There needs to be a mechanism to support businesses in green transformation; create sustainable livelihoods for people to protect the ecological environment.
Vietnam calls on the international community, especially developed countries, to fully and more substantively implement commitments on climate finance, technology transfer, human resource training, adaptation support, management capacity building and market expansion for green products of developing countries. Developed industrial countries have taken the lead in the industrialization process, have accumulated wealth for a long time based on higher emissions and have superior financial and technological capabilities. Therefore, their responsibilities in responding to climate change, protecting oceans and restoring global ecosystems must be commensurate with their current capacity and historical responsibility. A fair green order must help developing countries not be left behind, and not turn environmental standards into new trade barriers.
Developing countries need to be determined to innovate growth models, effectively use support resources, and improve transparency and accountability in implementing green commitments. But the transition roadmap must be consistent with the level of development, technological capacity, budget conditions, and requirements for ensuring energy security, food security and people's livelihoods.
Vietnam is ready to be an active and responsible member of the international community in efforts to respond to climate change, protect biodiversity, reduce plastic pollution, protect oceans, promote equitable energy transition and build a green economy. We want to develop a more substantive cooperation framework with partners, in which green finance reaches the most needed places, clean technology is shared more widely, management knowledge is spread faster, and the benefits of green transformation are distributed more fairly between countries, communities and generations.
The six groups of tasks above must be implemented with a spirit of practical action with the joint efforts of the State, businesses and the whole society. Each locality must have an action program suitable to its ecological characteristics and development model. Each ministry and sector must integrate green goals into specialized policies. Each business must consider environmental compliance as a standard for survival and green innovation as a condition for competition. Each citizen must turn their love for nature, love for the sea and islands, and love for their homeland into concrete actions every day.
World Environment Day and World Oceans Day remind us that the tolerance threshold of the earth is limited, the ocean is being damaged and the responsible actions of humanity. We are facing the mission of building a green, responsible and sustainable Vietnam in the 21st century; a model of prosperous, humane, modern and harmonious development with nature; building a rich and strong country while the environment is still fresh, the sea and islands are still peaceful, the rivers are still green, the forests are still vast and each person lives safely, healthily, and happily.
Every Vietnamese person should start with a specific thing: planting and taking care of a green tree, reducing disposable plastic products, saving energy, sorting waste, protecting water sources, keeping beaches clean, spreading a green living habit, and acting for the future of Vietnam to always be green and sustainable.
