Vietnam Economy Development and Sustainability

The statistics of plastic wastes in Vietnam are worrying and alarming. According to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, on average, each Vietnamese family uses 1kg of plastic bags per month. The Vietnam Plastics Association announced that, in 25 years, in the period of 1990-2015, the amount of plastic consumed in Vietnam has increased rapidly, from 3.8 kg to 41 kg / person / year. Vietnam is on the 15th in the world in terms of population size, but according to the World Bank statistics, we rank fourth in the world in the amount of plastic waste coming into the ocean.

According to the World Wild Fund, a single plastic straw takes 200 years to decompose, and a toothbrush even takes 500 years. Over the past years, Vietnam has achieved many important achievements in economic growth by opening up and integrating with the world economy. But it is also difficult to see the downsides of development: environmental pollution, climate change, declining air quality, deteriorating urban infrastructure.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates that if humanity continues to develop with a snow economy model based on the process of exploitation, production, consumption and eventually elimination into the environment, by 2030 the amount of waste produced by 2030 will exceed the limits of the load capacity and balance of nature,  causes irreversibly devastating climate disasters. The concept of a circular economy was therefore born in which it aims to extend the life of waste, use resources effectively, reduce pollution and environmental degradation, respond to climate change.

In recent years, Vietnam has joined many new-generation trade agreements such as CPTPP and EVFTA, fulfilling many commitments on production to limit the use of fossil energy, cutting greenhouse gas emissions, making the circular economy model more talked about. Most recently at the 26th UNITED NATIONS Climate Change Conference (COP26), Prime Minister Mr. Pham Minh Chinh announced that Vietnam will reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050, making the topic of circular economy even more of a current issue in the near future.

After more than 30 years of renovation, Vietnam has gained economic development achievements but we have also created the consequences of hot development. Today’s generation is responsible for handing over the heritage to future generations by choosing the path of sustainable development, minimizing negative impacts on the environment, protecting ecosystems and public health.

CORENACCA Center, partners and communities have been implementing the projects to contribute to sustainable development in the sectors: Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change Adaptation; Conservation of Wild and natural resources; Green and Innovation Energy; Sustainable livelihoods.