Green growth is a sustainable business solution amidst climate change at present, experts commented during a workshop organised by the Ho Chi Minh City chapter of Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) on April 19.
At the event (Source: VNA)
Speaking at the event, Deputy Director of the HCM City chapter of VCCI Nguyen The Hung said Vietnam is one of the countries hardest hit by climate change that killed and left 300 people missing and caused a loss of 1-1.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) each year. In 2017 alone, economic losses caused by climate change and natural disaster amounted to nearly 60 trillion VND (2.67 million USD). Associate Professor Phung Chi Sy, Director of the Environmental Technology Centre under the Vietnam Association for Conservation of Nature and Environment, said green growth could be achieved via saving energy, materials and water, cutting workforce cost and environment fees, reducing emissions and using eco-friendly materials, thus contributing to realising the national strategy on climate change. Sy suggested improving the efficiency of energy use, especially in manufacturing, transport and trade while cutting greenhouse emissions via organic agricultural development and facilitating new green industries. Each industrial firm needs to devise its own green growth plan towards sustainable development during the fourth industrial revolution 4.0 in Vietnam until 2030 with orientations to 2050, he said. Nguyen Xuan Hien, Executive Director of the Ingreetech Ltd Company, underscored the need to issue incentives regarding land lease and increase solar power prices. Lecturer of the Ho Chi Minh City University of Natural Resources and Environment Nguyen Hong Son said clean production cost in agriculture is two or three times higher than that in traditional method so that consumption remains limited. If farming coverage and output is expanded, supply will be greater than demand, leading to prices decrease, he said. He proposed that State agencies should strictly punish polluting production facilities and encourage public use of clean and safe good.-VNA
