Greening cities for a green economy in Vietnam:

opportunities and challenges

Dr Do Nam ThangDeputy Director General-International Cooperation DeptVietnam Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment

Contents

• Urbanization pressure• How greening cities contribute to green

economy?• Opportunities to develop green cites• Challenges

1.Urbanization pressure

• Population growth– Population: 90 mil, growth rate: 1.4 %– Uneven distribution: mostly in Red River Delta &

Mekong River Delta (47%)

• Rapid urbanization– Number of towns: from 500 (1990) to 800 (2014)

Urban population trend 1986-2010

19.3 19.520.75

23.9726.32

33

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

1986 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

Year

% U

rban

po

pu

lati

on

• Consequences: – industrial facilities in residential areas– inadequate infrastructure– traffic congestion– poor sanitation

Increased transport vehicles

• Before: bicycleNow: motor bikes and cars

Increased no. of vehicles

2. Greening cities for green economy

• Green economy: an economy with low carbon, resource efficient and socially inclusive (UNEP 2010).

• Green cities or environmentally sustainable cities: clean air, clean water, clean land and climate resilient

• Green cities would need:– Good urban planning– Sufficient investment in infrastructure: public

transport, resource efficient buildings, water supply and sanitation

– Proper municiple waste treatment– Green industry: resource efficient,

environmentally friendly

How green cities contribute to green economy?

• Reducing GHG in developing process (low carbon development): at present, 70% GHG emission is from cities

• Reducing resource and energy consumption• Promoting renewable energy• Reducing damage and loss due to

environmental degradation and climate change

How green cities contribute to green economy?

• Creating green jobs: in building retrofitting, environmental services, public transport

• Reducing poverty• Improving human health and living standards

Greening cities: opportunities

• Initial policy framework: green growth strategy 2012, master program on developing urban areas to respond to climate change 2014

• Ongoing ESC activities: – National: indicators, awarding scheme, ASEAN

working group on ESC– Local: ESC community-based models, 100 Resilient

Cities, City to city ESC exchange, Clean air cities initiative….

Greening cities: challenges

• Limited awareness at all levels (policymaking, public, business), mindsets of “mutually exclusive notions: development or environment”

• Low commitment from business and community

• Poor coordination among sectors, greening city activities

Potential research

• Underlying obstacles to awareness and behavior

• Costs and benefits of greening city policy options

• Impact of greening cities on economy wide