Nguyễn Hằng

Hà Nội streets are hazy due to air pollution on the morning of January 2. — VNA/VNS Photo Hoàng Hiếu

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam needs a paradigm shift in the management of emission sources to hold entities accountable and address air pollution more effectively in the near future.

Currently, air pollution in Việt Nam is a pressing issue.

Hà Nội recently became the most polluted city in the world, after several years of consistently ranking among the top cities globally.

This problem is not just confined to the capital – it is a nationwide crisis, with Việt Nam ranking the second most polluted country in ASEAN, according to the latest World Air Quality Report by IQAir.

The air quality in Hà Nội during the final days of February 2025 and early March was characterised by thick fog and smog.

The Air Quality Index (AQI) fluctuated between moderate to poor levels, at times exceeding thresholds deemed hazardous to health.

Hoàng Dương Tùng, president of the Clean Air Network, said that the causes of air pollution in Việt Nam are not dissimilar to those seen globally. The primary pollutant was fine particulate matter (PM2.5).

The particles are generated from activities such as livestock farming, industrial operations, construction, transportation, agriculture and waste burning.

For a long time, the causes of air pollution had been identified in broad and qualitative terms. As a result, proposed solutions had also been general and ineffective, failing to bring about the desired results.

“We’ve been relying on old methods for too long, and as long as we continue like this, the outcomes will remain the same. There is no progress. We need to change our approach to managing air pollution,” Tùng said.

A more specific approach

Mễ Trì urban area is submerged in fog and fine dust. — VNS Photo Đoàn Tùng

It is therefore time for a more specific approach, according to Tùng.

The sources of pollution needed to be identified in detail – which factories are the main contributors, he said.

To achieve this, environmental agencies must apply a digital transformation in pollution management, creating an emissions database for each individual unit.

This data would then form the foundation for controlling emissions and reducing air pollution.

Việt Nam also needs to adopt an Inventory-Based System (IBS) for emissions tracking. This would require businesses and organisations to measure their emissions and report them regularly.

Large polluting enterprises would be required to install automatic monitoring equipment. There must be reporting systems, databases and transparent information systems that allow the public to track and monitor emissions.

Funding would be required to support the infrastructure for reporting systems, data repositories and information platforms.

Countries like China, which produces industrial data hundreds of thousands of times greater than Việt Nam’s, have integrated their systems and run them very effectively.

Businesses and organisations must log into the system and publicly declare their data. If discrepancies are found, the system would instantly flag the issue and mandate accurate reporting.

When businesses submit reports, the system would alert authorities if emissions exceed allowable limits, triggering immediate corrective action.

“Such a system helps prevent environmental incidents before they happen, rather than waiting for problems to occur and then attempting to resolve them,” Tùng said.

It also allows regulatory bodies to access detailed data swiftly, making it easier to address violations as they arise.

Việt Nam also needs to develop a system for calculating air quality in specific areas. The system could be linked with databases to process information, identify emerging issues and consider meteorological conditions.

As for emissions from construction sites, cameras should be installed at project entrances to monitor whether contractors are complying with regulations to control dust, such as washing vehicle tires and covering construction sites to prevent dust dispersion.

Regulatory authorities could then rely on data from these cameras to issue fines where necessary.

“Pollution or not is essentially a matter of human action,” Tùng stated, adding that "we also need concrete and decisive actions to fix the problem soon."

He noted: “China took up to 10 years to integrate infrastructure and compile accurate data to manage emissions and reduce air pollution, spending a hundred billion dollars in the process.”

In reality, a significant portion of emissions comes from livestock farming. It is therefore necessary to catalogue the number of livestock farms and create a database to track emissions.

Additionally, to curb farmers from burning straw after harvest, mechanisms need to be put in place to encourage the sale of straw to buyers, thus enabling farmers to profit from the straw rather than burning it, which contributes significantly to air pollution.

Threat to mental health

While people often talk about the respiratory effects of air pollution, its impact on mental health is just as concerning.

RMIT University Senior Lecturer Gordon Ingram said the seasonal shift not only makes daily life uncomfortable but also worsens air pollution, as the heavy, moisture-laden atmosphere traps fine dust particles close to the ground.

“Air pollution is harmful, not just because chemicals in the air are physically poisonous or linked to respiratory infections, but also because they can have direct psychological effects on our brain, mind and behaviour,” he said.

That's why, during the humid and polluted time of year, many people experience a noticeable dip in mood.

Some develop symptoms of seasonal affective disorder, which is typically associated with winter in colder countries but could also be triggered by long periods of gloomy, cold and sunless weather.

Others report feeling more irritable, fatigued or unfocused.

Depression and anxiety tend to worsen in such conditions, and even those without a history of mental health issues may feel a general sense of unease.

Unravelling the reasons for these effects is a key research topic in environmental psychology.

“So, if we want a healthier mindset, we need a healthier environment,” Ingram said.

Air pollution has been linked to many psychological problems, including cognitive decline and brain fog (especially in older adults), depression and anxiety, stress and poor emotional well-being, and development of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other attention problems in children.

While most of these studies are very recent and research still needs to be done, the connections are becoming clearer.

Air pollution could even have direct neurological effects, especially during pregnancy and old age, with some studies even linking it to dementia.

It is particularly important for older people, pregnant women and small children to have a clean air supply at all times.

"Real change, however, requires smart policies and enforcement," Ingram added.

Cleaner energy, stricter emissions control and better urban planning are essential.

Environmentally friendly buses

Hanoian people get on an electric bus. — VNS Photo Đoàn Tùng

Đinh Thị Thanh Bình, head of the Faculty of Transport Planning and Management at the University of Transport, pointed out that transport activities contribute significantly to the emission of pollutants into the environment, including CO, CO2, NOx, fine particulate matter and noise, especially in urban areas where traffic density is high and the population is concentrated.

However, the level of emissions depended largely on the type of transport.

For example, a diesel bus carrying 60 passengers over a distance of 10 kilometres consumes around 3-4 litres of fuel and emits approximately 10kg of CO2.

On average, each passenger travelling by bus on a 10km journey would emit up to 0.18kg of CO2.

A private car with four seats, using petrol, carrying four passengers over 10km consumes about 0.7 litres of fuel and emits approximately 1.6kg of CO2.

This means each passenger on a 10km car journey emits 0.4kg of CO2 on average.

A motorbike carrying two people for 10 kilometres consumes about 0.25 litres of petrol and emits roughly 0.6kg of CO2, meaning that each passenger on a 10km motorbike ride would emit 0.3kg of CO2 on average.

In reality, the average occupancy rate of buses in major cities such as Hà Nội and HCM City is around 30-70 per cent, reaching 100-170 per cent during peak hours.

Meanwhile a private car typically carries only just over two people on average, including the driver, while a motorbike carries just over one person.

“The comparison shows that, of the three modes of transport, the bus is the most environmentally friendly, while the private car is the least,” Bình said.

The larger the capacity of the vehicle and the higher the occupancy rate, the lower the emissions per journey.

This shows that encouraging people to use larger-capacity transport would reduce emissions per trip, and the total emissions from daily transport activities in urban areas would decrease, she said.

Changes in habits

Old motorbikes that are not inspected for emissions are also a cause of air pollution. —VNS Photo Đoàn Tùng

Vũ Bích Phượng, associate lecturer of Psychology at the School of Science, Engineering & Technology under RMIT University Việt Nam, said changing habitual behaviours for transportation might be difficult, because habits have strong neural pathways that are potentiated over time in the brain – however, it is not impossible.

"To change old habits, we must facilitate a new habit by offering a lot of help and incentives for people, because humans need more than willpower to commit to change," she said.

People need some pushes, orders and external rewards – and they need them continuously and not only momentarily, to foster long-term commitment. This is why policy matters, according to Phượng.

“We need policies to prioritise public transport, making it more satisfying, more comfortable, more convenient and more respected than private transport,” she said.

“Public transport must provide people with immediate rewards, so people don’t feel that it’s a wrestling task just to catch a bus,” Phượng added.

Classic behavioural theories suggest two methods of rewards, such as giving or removing something to make public transport more attractive, and punishments such as giving or removing something to make private transport more unattractive, to simultaneously target both old and undesirable habits and new and desirable ones.

“We can get creative and think of many ways to reinforce people to use public transport,” she said.

On the one hand, buses, bus stops and pathways to connect different bus stops should be improved to provide comfort.

For example, buses should have priority lanes to increase punctuality, plenty of charging ports onboard, allow contactless payment, become more friendly and safe for children, women, baby strollers, the elderly, people with disabilities, pets, foreigners and even bicycles.

Bus stops should have real-time tracking boards, air conditioning or fans for cooling, seats with glass doors to block out noise, pollution and rain, and become more easily available within walking distance.

Gamified programmes such as reward points or ticket collection or programmes to require people to alternate using private vehicles and public transport vehicles could be used to increase loyalty.

Businesses and schools could also help by offering discounts, rewards, subsidies or tax benefits for those who use public transport.

Pathways to connect the bus/metro stops should be seamless and convenient for walking, such as underground transits or pathways with shade from canopies or trees to avoid hot weather.

On the other hand, using private transport could be deterred by imposing higher taxes, more parking fees, increased waiting time or more time restrictions to enter city centres.

All financial revenues from these must be used to improve public transport infrastructure.

More effort should be spent on increasing rewards than on imposing punishments, because rewards create more positive emotions like satisfaction and pride, and people would be more likely to encourage their families and friends to join them.

Research has shown that if just 3.5 per cent of the population commits to change, it would happen.

“We can think about many ways to achieve that 3.5 per cent. That can be our goal for campaigns,” Phượng said.

While there could be many more ideas, policies and regulations that support people structurally and ensure consistency are key.

“People need help to change, because personal motivation is not enough,” she noted.

“We’ve passed the educational phase, it’s time for immediate actions now."

Integrated solutions

Long Biên Bridge on a day of air pollution. — VNA/VNS Photo Hoàng Hiếu

According to Bình, in major cities like Hà Nội and HCM City, the proportion of personal vehicles is still very high.

Only about 10 per cent of daily trips are made by bus, while the majority of the population uses motorbikes for daily commuting. Private cars account for around 10-15 per cent of daily trips.

Public transport systems are still predominantly reliant on buses. Large-scale public transport infrastructure, such as urban rail systems, is only just beginning to take shape, with two rail lines in Hà Nội and one in HCM City.

Given this situation, the capacity of public transport systems cannot yet meet the high demand for commuting, meaning private vehicles will remain the main mode of transport for urban residents.

To gradually reduce emissions from urban transport, the following measures should be implemented concurrently.

Rapid development of large-capacity public transport networks, such as urban rail systems, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and express buses, should be developed in areas where such modes are feasible.

Improving the capacity and quality of existing bus services is necessary to ensure reasonable frequency to reduce waiting times for passengers.

Infrastructure improvements are required to enhance accessibility to bus stops, connecting residential areas with bus stations. New methods, such as public bicycles and electric scooters, should also be developed.

Another solution is raising public awareness about the role of public transport in reducing emissions and the social responsibility of citizens in helping to lower pollution by using public transport.

In addition, it is necessary to apply "push-pull" measures such as integrating land use planning with traffic planning to eliminate the need for personal vehicles from the beginning (for example, through Transit-Oriented Development or TOD).

Managing private vehicle parking and planning reasonable parking facilities, such as Park and Ride systems, could also help reduce the number of private vehicles downtown.

Once the capacity of public transport systems meets most of the daily travel demand, "push" measures could be implemented to control the use of private vehicles.

The measures include increasing the cost of using private cars, limiting parking space and time, limiting the number of private vehicles and tightening emissions standards.

Separate air pollution act

High-rise buildings in Hà Nội are obscured by smog. — VNA/VNS Photo Hoàng Hiếu

"At present, we only have a single Environmental Protection Law (2020) that covers air, water and solid waste management," said Tùng from the Clean Air Network.

There is also a single decree, Decree 08/2022/NĐ-CP, which applies to all environmental issues and one circular, Circular 02/2022/TT-BTNMT, that covers various environmental matters.

“It’s not enough,” he stressed. “What we need is a specific Clean Air Act, a law for wastewater and a law for solid waste.

"They should be distinct laws to allow for better management, as "it is not practical to apply a one-size-fits-all regulation to all environmental issues. If we had a specific Clean Air Act, we would be able to address detailed and specific problems related to air pollution.

“We need to overhaul our regulatory framework, as one law for all approach does not work for environmental issues,” he added.

China, for example, has a separate law for air pollution management – not just one law, but several. Furthermore, their regulations and standards are very comprehensive and detailed.

“We should learn from them,” he said.

Lecturer Phượng from RMIT University Việt Nam said that in South Korea, they continuously improve and promote public transport.

Bus stops have heated seats to keep people warm and comfortable while waiting for buses in the winter. Buses are turned into cartoon characters to make them more attractive and familiar to children, leading to better public transport behaviour in adulthood and also adding value to South Korea’s cultural popularity.

All modes of public transport (metro, bus and KTX train) are integrated and public transport fares are charged based on the distance of travel instead of how many times commuters have to change their buses/metro lines, as that could cost more and become less attractive.

In the Netherlands, they also have created a culture of cycling in which people enjoy it instead of viewing it as a task.

To learn from them, Việt Nam needs innovations to create and promote a “culture” that is unique for Việt Nam, she said.

In the past, Việt Nam's streets were filled with xích lô (cyclos), an eco-friendly cultural tradition that was once the main mode of transportation, Phượng noted.

She asked: “What if we can bring it back, renovate it with some electric power-assisted steering? And some nicely designed canopies to give people shade and Instagram-worthy pictures?” — VNS