Hanoians lost thousands of billions of VND incurred by air pollution
Nga Vu
July 26, 2017 | 03:07 PM GMT+7
Ha Noi was becoming one of the top cities with air pollution in the country as the concentration of dust reached two - three times higher than the allowable limit on many roads.
Air pollution in Ha Noi. Photo: Internet
This worrying fact was raised in the national environmental report of 2016 year- "Urban Environment" which has just been announced by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.
According to the statistics, up to 70 per cent of the air pollution in Hanoi was caused by traffic activities. With over four million of vehicles, traffic activities accounted for 85 per cent of CO2 emissions and 95 per cent of volatile organic compounds that were not visible to the naked eyes.
Furthermore, construction activities, industrial production facilities and waste treatment,… also generated emissions, causing air pollution in Hanoi.
Data from the report also showed that air pollution-related diseases tended to increase, such as asthma, respiratory tract infection, tuberculosis, and pneumonia. Air pollution had caused many diseases, resulting in a number of economic losses due to costs of medical treatment.
According to the report, particularly in Hanoi, the cost of respiratory medical check and treatment and economic losses due to sick leave amounted to VND1,500 (roughly US$0.07) per person per day. With 3.5 million of urban residents in Hanoi, the total of economic losses caused by respiratory diseases were about VND2,000 billion (roughly US$90 million) per year.
Based on Economists’ calculation estimation if Vietnam's GDP doubles in the next 10 years without any effective environmental protection measures, environmental pollution will be triple.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a US$100-million loan facility agreement with China Everbright International Limited (CEIL) to help a series of municipal waste-to-energy (WTE) plants in primary and secondary cities in the Mekong Delta.
The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) has proposed stopping Thach Khe iron mine project due to four concerns including investor capacity, environmental impact, a market for iron ore and transportation.
On August 10, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) entered an agreement on the Project for Emergency reservoir operation and effective flood management using water related disaster management information system.
The Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc responds about the compensation and stability of life, production, business of people in four central provinces: Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue.
The environmental protection tax on plastic bags are expected to increase from VND30,000-50,000 to VND40,000-200,000 per kilo. The new tax rates would help change consumption habits and offer opportunities to biodegradable bag manufacturers.
Vietnam will face grave consequences if it does not take strict action against pollution while striving to achieve the goal of 7% annual economic growth and power sector's 11% annual growth.
