Vietnam Targets Half of Big-, Medium-Sized Cities to Go Green by 2030

Vietnam has set a target to have at least half of big- and medium-sized cities in the country meeting green city standards by 2030, according to an action plan on green growth by the Ministry of Construction. To realize the target, Vietnam has been working to improve its technical infrastructure’s capacity for climate change response, produce environmentally-friendly building materials, apply energy efficient solutions to buildings, and reinforce houses to cope with natural disasters, said Deputy Minister Phan Thi My Linh. Besides, the country has cooperated with foreign partners in projects on green growth, said Mr. Pham Khanh Toan, director of the Department for International Cooperation, under the ministry. Notably, a project on energy efficiency in the building sector was carried out from 2014 to 2017 in five biggest cities of Vietnam namely Hanoi, Haiphong City, Danang City, HCMC, and Can Tho, as part of the USAID Vietnam Clean Energy Program. The project aims to help save energy, reduce CO2 emissions, promote energy saving, and support low-emission development. Meanwhile, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has provided technical and financial assistance for water service companies in Vietnam and helped the country design a decree on public-private partnership and implement urban environment program since 2012. Between 2016 and 2020, ADB has agreed to support Vietnam with $600 million-$800 million for climate change response and green city development. Vietnam is one of the countries, which are the most vulnerable to climate change and natural disaster risks. It is estimated that over 70% of the Vietnamese population is affected by natural disasters. (Vietnam PlusEnglish, BNews)