Hanoi air pollution usually peaks in December
Talking to Lao Dong Newspaper about the current situation of air pollution, Ms. Nguyen Hoang Anh - Deputy Head of the Environmental Quality Management Department, Department of Environment, Ministry of Agriculture and Environment - said that Hanoi and neighboring provinces often face bad air quality in the last months of the year.
According to Ms. Anh, Hanoi has quite special climate and weather characteristics. The period from October of the previous year to March of the following year is often called the "pollution season". During this period, there are times when air quality is at a bad level, even possibly reaching a very bad level.
The indicators according to the assessment of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, the peak diễn biến usually falls around December" - Ms. Anh said.
Explaining why December is often a noteworthy time, Ms. Anh said that socio-economic development activities take place year-round, but at the end of the year, before the Lunar New Year, socio-economic activities often increase. This factor combined with climate and weather characteristics makes polluting substances have conditions to accumulate.
According to Ms. Anh's analysis, Hanoi's terrain has the characteristic of being likened to a "pan", surrounded by mountains. When climate zones move from the North, it can create conditions that make emissions from sources difficult to spread.
At that time, emissions from sources cannot be released, causing the effect of accumulation and deposition of pollution, so it reaches its peak" - Ms. Anh analyzed.
Four main sources of air pollution
According to representatives of the Department of Environment, there are 4 basic sources related to air pollution, including transportation; industry; construction activities, including transportation of construction materials; and other sources such as open burning activities, civil activities.
Ms. Anh said that previously environmental protection policies focused heavily on controlling each source of emissions. However, reality shows that even when sources are controlled, if accumulated at a certain time, combined with climate, weather conditions and high emission density, the level of pollution can still increase.
Therefore, environmental management policies are changing in the direction of not only controlling each source but also considering the accumulation between sources, environmental load-bearing capacity and taking environmental quality, including air quality, as a goal to adjust policies.
Emission control must go hand in hand with green transformation
To solve the problem of air pollution, according to a representative of the Department of Environment, it is necessary to synchronously implement many solutions instead of just focusing on treating one source of emissions.
Ms. Anh said that on November 19, 2025, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 2530 on the National Action Plan on overcoming pollution and air quality management, which set out 9 groups of tasks and solutions. Localities are assigned targets to develop implementation plans.
One of the important requirements is to continue to strictly control waste sources. Specifically for Hanoi, the Capital Law creates a basis for applying specific mechanisms in environmental protection, including low-emission zones that the city is gradually implementing.
In parallel with emission control, green transition is identified as an important direction.
A very important policy is green and environmentally friendly transformation, including green industry, green transportation and agriculture must also be in the direction of low emissions" - Ms. Anh emphasized.
According to Ms. Anh, the trend of green transformation is now quite clear, first of all in the fields of transportation and industry. With Hanoi, craft villages are also facing the requirement to transform to adapt to the development process of the Capital.
Technology is also being used to support monitoring polluting behaviors and achieve good results. Ms. Anh cited the example of using UAVs to monitor combustion activities, or receiving people's feedback on polluting behaviors through the iHanoi platform.
According to her, combining many tools and measures not only helps management agencies detect and handle polluting sources but also contributes to changing community awareness.
