Dong Nai: New commission to protect environment

Industrial activities that pollute the Dong Nai River system will no longer be accepted, speakers at a meeting of the Environmental Protection Commission for Dong Nai River Basin said on Wednesday.

Tree planting to brighten up City

Ornamental trees will appear to sprout on the pavements of HCM City when the local authority begins a planting programme on major streets next month. The planting has been planned in reponse to public concerns that pavement repairs and upgrades had "negatively affected" nearly 700 trees in the city. Workers had either cut the roots or dumped construction waste at the base of the trees or removed the ornamental garden surrounds.

Polluting exhausts may result in fines

The exhaust fumes from millions of motorbikes in Ha Noi and HCM City have spiralled out of control since the push-bike went out of fashion a decade ago. According to statistics, cars and motorbikes create about 70 per cent of existing air pollution in urban areas in Viet Nam.

ADB new policy targets clean energy for Asia

The Asian Development Bank’s (ADB’s) Board of Directors has approved a new energy policy to help Asia and Pacific countries secure adequate energy supplies while cutting levels of greenhouse gas emissions.

More than $5 million in Lam Dong forest fees to help environment

Some VND100 billion (US$5.6 million) in forest service fees paid by Lam Dong Province businesses would go toward projecting the Central Highlands environment over the next two years, a local agency said Tuesday.

Millions to become homeless due to sea level rise next ten years

At an international seminar themed "Impacts of climate change and urban inundation” held yesterday in Hồ Chí Minh City (HCMC), experts informed that in the next ten years, 22 million Vietnamese people may lose their houses due to sea level rise.

Hanoi has to urgently move polluting facilities

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has asked ministries to quickly finalise schemes to tackle seriously polluting facilities in Hanoi and HCM City. Accordingly, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development have to submit to the Prime Minister a comprehensive scheme for the treatment of medical waste and environmental pollution at pesticide warehouses and craft villages in August 2009.

Simple ways to deal with climate change

Green Office, a World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Finland programme, will provide enterprises with simple and effective methods to deal with climate change and reduce their impact on the environment. A workshop to promote environmentally-friendly offices held by the WWF, with the support of Toyota Motor Viet Nam (TMV), opened in the capital on June 24.

Green talk-fest to clear the air

A two-day exhibition and conference "Greenbiz 2009 – European Green Business Solutions for Viet Nam" will be held in the country in September. The following thoughts come from the event’s organisers:

Plunder of central, southern nature reserves continues

Illegal logging in protective forests in the Central Highlands and a biosphere reserve in the southern province of Ca Mau have increased, park rangers said. Several cases of illegal logging in protective forests were detected last month in Krong Buk District, park rangers from the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak said.