The Viet Nam Environmental Administration asked the National Assembly yesterday to consider doubling annual State expenditures on environmental protection activities.
Hoang Duong Tung, deputy director of the administration which is under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, said the State’s annual expenses on environmental protection accounted for only 1 per cent of its total spending in 2006, a rate that remains unchanged.
In his speech at the conference to announce the ministry’s 2010 National Environment Report, Tung said the State spent VND6.59 trillion (US$314 million) on environmental activities in 2010. Though it was nearly twice as high as the 2009 figure, it was still unable to satisfy actual demand for dealing with the rising number of pressing environment issues.
The sum only accounted for 0.4 per cent of the country’s GDP. In China and ASEAN countries, annual investment for environmental activities generally accounts for between 2 and 3 per cent of GDP.
Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Pham Khoi Nguyen said Viet Nam had gained many socio-economic achievements over the past year and an average economic growth rate of 7.2 per cent.
However, economic growth combined with the rapidly growing population and urbanisation rate were challenging environmental protection, he said.
With 86.9 million people in 2010, Viet Nam’s population ranks third in Southeast Asia and the country has one of the highest population densities in the world, according to the report.
The natural environment was only capable of dealing with a finite amount of waste, meaning the rapid rise in population and untreated waste discharged into the environment could make it impossible for the environment to clean itself and recover.
In addition, capital had not been disbursed or used efficiently and some localities even used the money for other purposes, Tung said.
Inefficient use of the funds could be attributed to the fact that capital allocation in many localities was carried out without the participation of local departments of Natural Resources and Environment or the supervision of local People’s Councils at all levels.
According to the report, of among eight targets set for the 2006-10 period only one was fulfilled: residents in rural areas to access clean water. In that period, the percentage of people living in rural areas who had access to clean water rose to 79 per cent, while the target was 75 per cent.
The five-year plan also targets to have 100 per cent of all industrial and processing zones equipped with standardised waste water treatment systems, but as of 2009 only 60 per cent of the zones achieved the target, which made it the worst performing target.
Under these circumstances, the environmental administration suggested that policies to encourage more investment in the natural resources and environment sector should be developed.
The agency also asked for the completion of legal documents on environmental protection, the improvement of pollution management efficiency, a rise in public awareness as well as expansion of international co-operation.
A representative from the Central Institute for Economic Management stressed the increase of environmental protection expenses would not work without enhancing environmental governance.
Luu Duc Hai, head of the Environment Science Faculty under the University of Natural Science said the environmental observation system must be modernised in order to provide a precise database for assessment.
He said State money should also be focused on developing human resources to help maintain the diversity of natural resources and reduce the risk of environmental pollution.
