Việt Nam produces nearly two million tonnes of plastic waste each year, most of it unrecycled. Interviews with young consumers and environmental experts reveal why regulation alone has struggled to curb a problem rooted in daily habits and low-cost plastic.
HCM City authorities have proposed installing nearly 160 air quality monitoring stations to strengthen pollution tracking, early warning systems and emission control policies, as air quality continues to deteriorate in Việt Nam’s largest urban centres.
National parks are entering a high-risk fire season as prolonged drought, storm damage and human activity combine to threaten biodiversity and stretch already thin forest protection forces.
Historic floods in central Việt Nam have revealed weaknesses in small and medium hydropower reservoirs, highlighting the need for stronger dam safety, modern monitoring, and pumped-storage development to protect communities and stabilise the grid.
Đồng Tháp Province has earmarked VNĐ336 billion (US$12.7 million) for a coastal erosion prevention project in Tân Điền and Gò Công Đông communes to be carried out by 2028.
According to Đỗ Bá Quân, Chairman of TNGo’s Board of Directors, from December through the first quarter of 2026 the company will deploy more than 5,000 electric bicycles across expanded inner-city areas and public spaces, including tourist sites.
Pressure on air quality in HCM City is mounting. Monitoring results from 2021-2025 show that dust pollution and noise frequently exceed regulatory standards.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature has adopted a solution in the Mekong Delta to restore mangroves on the seaside of dykes while protecting local livelihoods, based on early results from its three-year project in Cà Mau Province and Cần Thơ City.
Trương Quốc Bảo, Director of Hà Nội’s Yên Xá Wastewater Treatment System Project Management Board, said that the Tô Lịch River is expected to become a clean and green waterway in the near future.
During the peak winter months of January and February, the north might be affected by strong cold air outbreaks, causing severe cold spells across wide areas.
By tracking food waste, True North International School encourages students to reduce leftovers and join food-drive activities, collecting unused, non-perishable items to donate to food banks such as VietHarvest in Việt Nam.
As traditional weather patterns break down, immediate disaster response and recovery, infrastructure reinforcement and planning reform, and the modernisation of forecasting and early warning systems have become the country’s most urgent priorities.
Diplomats and climate officials from France, Brazil, the EU, the UN and Việt Nam have urged renewed global resolve to confront the escalating climate emergency as they marked the tenth anniversary of the Paris Agreement in Hà Nội on December 11.
Addressing concerns that the city might push for an overly rapid transition, Hà Nội Department of Construction's deputy director Đào Việt Long stressed that Hà Nội would not implement a universal mandate but instead apply specific timelines for different vehicle groups.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment's scheme for 2026–30 aims to maintain existing forests and restore and develop over 23,300ha of forest, including 13,500ha of new planting and 9,800ha of supplementary restoration.
The initiative is a key pillar of the company’s long-term sustainability roadmap and seeks to contribute to the Government’s “One Billion Trees” campaign for 2021–25.
From January to November this year, Việt Nam detected 2,814 cases of illegal logging and forest fires, a decrease of 426 cases or 17.5 per cent from the same period in 2024. The damaged forest area dropped to 1,059ha, down 527ha or nearly 33 per cent.
Initial verification showed that the animal weighed 3.7kg and measured over 60cm. It was identified as a Sunda pangolin (Manis javanica), also known as the Javan pangolin, listed in Group IB – critically endangered and strictly protected from all commercial exploitation.
