Quang Ninh Targets Huge Reduction in Greenhouse Gases

Quang Ninh Province is looking to reduce 7.02 million tones of greenhouse gases by 2020 under its Green Growth Plan by 2020, it was announced today. The provincial Planning and Investment Department and the Japan International Co-operation Agency in Ha Long City made the announcement. The reduction is equal to 22.5% of the total volume of greenhouse gas discharged in the province for 2010. The province also planned to force all industrial parks owning standard wastewater treatment systems and half of the manufacturers to apply clean technologies by 2020. Deputy Director of the department Hoang Danh Son said the general objective of the plan was to drive the province into reaching sustainable economic development. Vice Chairman of the provincial People's Committee Dang Huy Hau said the province recognized that developing heavy industries, including coal mining, posed huge threats to the environment. Thus, the province integrated environment protection goals into socio-economic development in order to conduct them soon, he said. Hau said that the province was also focusing on protecting the environment in the Ha Long Bay. In a related movement, the provincial authority and JICA signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Nov 16. Following the MoU, 20 bio-toilets would be installed on tourism cruises in the Ha Long Bay along with 11 waste-water treatment plants in Van Don Island District by April 2018. It aimed to improve the quality of water in the bay. (http://vietnamnews.vn/ Nov 17)