Air pollution in some large cities is exceeding safety thresholds and becoming serious. In addition to affecting health, how does air pollution affect GDP growth?
- According to the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution causes people to come into contact with fine particles in polluted air. Industries, transportation and coal-fired thermal power plants along with the use of solid fuels are the main sources of air pollution. Air pollution continues to increase at an alarming rate and affects economies and the quality of life of people. According to WHO statistics, fine dust pollution can reduce the average life expectancy by 1.5 to 2 years - which directly leads to increased medical costs and affects the quality of human resources.
The impact of air pollution does not stop at individual businesses but also spreads to the entire economy. With the agriculture, services, tourism and industry all affected, the total damage could reduce GDP by 12-14% - equivalent to tens of billions of USD per year. This is a clear warning. Vietnam needs to quickly have a comprehensive strategy to improve air quality, from the national level to each factory and industrial park.
Can you share some lessons from other countries in solving this problem?
- Experience of countries is very diverse depending on the circumstances of each country. For example, Nordic countries encourage the use of bicycles or electric cars to reduce dust from sources that are means of transport with a very high risk of emitting dust. Or ban the circulation of vehicles with high net emissions using fossil fuels, severely punish production facilities and vehicles that cause large volumes of dust.
Or China also has strict regulations on dust and smoke prevention, especially in big cities, requiring the installation of dust filtering equipment before releasing smoke into the environment and severely punishing individuals and organizations that cause dust pollution.
In 2020, Japan applied the motorcycle emission standard equivalent to Euro 5. These standards, implemented by the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, are designed to reduce pollutants such as CO, HC and NOx.
Can you propose urgent and effective policy solutions to reduce air pollution in the coming time?
To cope with increasingly serious air pollution, Vietnam needs to urgently and synchronously deploy urgent and effective policy solutions.
First of all, it is necessary to perfect the legal system by promulgating the Clean Air Law or adding specialized content on air control to the Law on Environmental Protection.At the same time, it is necessary to develop and publish a national air pollution map, update data in real time, as a basis for monitoring and decision-making.
Regarding emission control, it is necessary to tighten the management of industrial emissions, traffic emissions and domestic fuels, including gradually banning old and dilapidated motorbikes, controlling straw burning and spontaneous waste treatment. Production facilities must install standard emission treatment systems, conduct periodic measurements and regular reports. The State also needs to issue emission reduction targets for each industry and locality, as part of a sustainable development strategy.
The government needs to implement more mechanisms to encourage investment in green technology, dust filtering equipment, and clean means of transport such as electric vehicles. Support low-income people to access environmentally friendly solutions. Communication and community education activities also need to be promoted, in order to raise awareness and build a culture that does not accept dust and smoke, towards forming new living standards towards clean air.
Thank you
