The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment received a petition from voters in Ho Chi Minh City with the content: Voters reflect the situation of environmental pollution, especially air and fine dust pollution that is increasing, especially in large cities, directly affecting people's health and lives; requesting competent authorities to soon issue mechanisms and solutions to control and treat polluting sources, improving the quality of living environment for people.
Regarding this proposal, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment reports as follows:
Air pollution has been a prominent issue in recent years, concentrated in major cities such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong, Da Nang and industrial centers. According to research, inventory of emission sources and environmental monitoring results, air pollution in major cities of Vietnam, especially fine dust pollution (PM2.5), mainly originates from the following sources: transportation activities with high vehicle density, especially motorbikes and vehicles using fossil fuels; dust generated from construction, infrastructure renovation and transportation of construction materials; road dust due to unqualified urban sanitation; industrial production activities, craft villages using fuel; open burning activities such as burning agricultural by-products, burning domestic waste and some service activities.
In addition, meteorological conditions in winter-spring, especially the phenomenon of inverse heat and weak wind, limit the diffusion of pollutants in the air, causing fine dust concentrations to tend to accumulate high for many days. Clearly recognizing the importance of air pollution, in the past time, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has advised the Government to develop and promulgate many mechanisms and policies to control and improve the quality of the air environment, including:
- The Ministry has advised and submitted to competent authorities to issue many legal documents such as: documents detailing and guiding the implementation of the 2020 Law on Environmental Protection; issuing directing and operating documents; developing technical guidelines and implementation plans on air quality management;
- The Ministry has issued and completed the national technical regulation system on air quality; emissions from vehicles; emissions in industrial production industries. At the same time, it has submitted to the Prime Minister for promulgation a roadmap for applying emission standards to automobiles and is completing the roadmap for application to motorbikes and mopeds.
- Air quality monitoring systems are being invested and expanded at the central level with: (1) 37 automatic, continuous monitoring stations; (2) a network of more than 100 low-cost sensor devices; (3) air quality forecasting systems applying modern models. Air quality forecast bulletins have been provided periodically to support management and provide information to the community. At the local level, 30 provinces and cities have built and operated 95 automatic, continuous air quality monitoring stations.
The Prime Minister has issued the National Action Plan on overcoming pollution and managing air quality in the period 2026 - 2030, with a vision to 2045, which clearly defines specific goals and tasks for ministries, branches and localities. The Ministry has proposed specific solutions to improve air quality with the goal of the air quality index (VN-AQI) reaching a safe threshold for human health in 5 years. In the coming time, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment will continue to coordinate with ministries, branches and localities to synchronously implement the following groups of solutions:
First, improve mechanisms and policies: continue to review and improve the system of policies and laws on controlling and managing air quality, especially regulations related to controlling emissions from road motor vehicles and major emission sources.
Second, apply science and technology: promote research, application and transfer of advanced emission treatment technology for large-emission manufacturing industries such as thermal power, cement, metallurgy and industries using boilers.
Third, strictly control emission sources: Strengthen the inventory of emission sources, assess the emission levels of each industry and each sector to develop specific emission reduction plans.
Fourth, strengthen pollution monitoring, forecasting and warning: Continue to invest in developing air quality monitoring and forecasting systems.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment continues to coordinate with localities, including Ho Chi Minh City and neighboring provinces, to implement urgent solutions such as: strengthening control of construction and transportation of materials; improving the efficiency of urban environmental sanitation work; strictly controlling major emission sources; strengthening monitoring and publicizing information on air quality; promoting propaganda and raising community awareness.
