The ceremony to launch the 'People Join Hands to Protect the Environment for a Green, Clean and Beautiful Việt Nam' campaign on Saturday. — VNS Photo Tố Như

Tố Như

NGHỆ AN — Green habits start at home, and when enough homes adopt them, they reshape society, a senior official said on Saturday as she launched a nationwide campaign urging every citizen, household and community to go green.

The campaign, titled 'People Join Hands to Protect the Environment for a Green, Clean and Beautiful Việt Nam,' was launched at a ceremony in Cửa Lò, a coastal ward in the central province of Nghệ An, timed to coincide with World Environment Day (June 5), World Oceans Day (June 8), and Việt Nam's annual Sea and Islands Week.

Bùi Thị Minh Hoài, chairwoman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front's Central Committee, called on every citizen to take concrete action to protect the environment. Party members and Government officials, she said, should lead by example — cut back on single-use plastics, conserve water and electricity, plant more trees and keep public spaces clean.

Bùi Thị Minh Hoài, chairwoman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, delivers her speech at the ceremony. — VNS Photo Tố Như

Households should sort waste at the source, she said, while neighbourhoods should hold regular clean-up drives and crack down on unauthorised dumping sites. Manufacturing facilities must comply with environmental law, upgrade their technology and cut emissions.

The campaign, she said, rests on a simple but sweeping vision – that every citizen becomes a green citizen, every household a green space and every community a green hub – and she expressed confidence that the movement would spread widely and drive a profound shift in how Vietnamese people think and act.

Deputy Prime Minister Hồ Quốc Dũng told the gathering that progress has been made but the hard problems remain. Air pollution in major cities is still getting worse, he said, and plastic waste, ocean plastic in particular, has become an urgent concern.

He framed the challenge in global terms: climate change, biodiversity loss and the depletion of natural resources are battering nations worldwide, with heat waves, storms, floods, droughts and saltwater intrusion growing more frequent and severe.

Deputy Prime Minister Hồ Quốc Dũng speaks at the ceremony. — VNS Photo Tố Như

Việt Nam, he said, is among the countries most exposed to these pressures and is working with the international community to address them.

The Deputy PM warned ministries and local governments not to sacrifice environmental quality for economic gains, and said environmental protection must sit at the heart of every development strategy, plan and zoning decision.

He called for coordinated actions to cut greenhouse gas emissions, expand renewable energy, build a circular economy and pursue low-carbon development, all backed by digital technology and modern tools for managing natural resources, climate and maritime affairs.

"A greener, cleaner, more beautiful Việt nam is built deed by deed, with all of society pulling together. What we do for the environment today, we do for every generation that follows," he said.

After the ceremony, participants spread out along Cửa Lò Beach for a cleanup, planted trees and paid visits to local fishing families. Representatives of the fishing community signed pledges to protect the marine environment, reduce plastic waste and fish sustainably.

Organisers also handed out aid to fishermen's families: 1,000 national flags, 100 freshwater storage tanks, five water filtration units, 500 storm-resistant solar flashlights and 25 bicycles for schoolchildren from low-income fishing households. — VNS