Fighting air pollution: The longer you wait, the higher the price you pay

The longer we delay in fighting air pollution, the more serious the problem will become. The price to pay will not only be financial but also the health, even the lives and future of future generations.

Delegates at the launching ceremony of the campaign "For a green capital"

Experts emphasized this at the launching ceremony of the For a Green Capital campaign organized by Vingroup Corporation on the morning of January 10.

Threatening the health of millions of people

Dr. Hoang Duong Tung - Chairman of the Vietnam Clean Air Network - shared that Hanoi residents are very worried about their health when seeing the air quality index AQI always at a dangerous level for health for many hours and many days.

"For tourists, everyone thinks that Hanoi is an attractive city with rich cuisine and friendly people, but what they find most regrettable is the poor air quality," said Mr. Tung.

Mr. Tung analyzed: Air pollution in Hanoi is mainly PM2.5 fine dust pollution - a type of dust with a diameter smaller than 1/30 of a hair, which can penetrate the lung sacs, pulmonary veins and enter the blood circulatory system, causing many diseases related to the respiratory and cardiovascular systems.

A person inhales and exhales about 22,000 times a day, each time inhaling about 500ml of air, so every day needs 10,000 liters of air to breathe. Fine dust PM2.5 with toxic substances is always present in the air, when breathing increases the risk of heart attack and stroke rate.

According to experts, the numbers of PM2.5 fine dust and NO2 gas continuously exceeding the permissible threshold are not just dry numbers, but are a direct threat to the health of millions of people, especially children, the elderly and people with chronic diseases.

As a leading expert in the environmental field, Mr. Tung believes that Hanoi is facing an "air crisis" and if immediate and drastic action is not taken, the price to pay will not only be financial, but also the health, even the lives and future of future generations.

This conversion not only significantly reduces emissions into the environment but also contributes to bringing Hanoi closer to its goal of becoming a green, sustainably developed city.

Mr. NGUYEN MANH QUYEN (Vice Chairman of Hanoi People's Committee)

Join the "For a green capital" movement

Speaking at the event, Mr. Nguyen Manh Quyen, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee, said that traffic congestion and environmental pollution are two major challenges facing the capital and have been given special attention and direction by General Secretary To Lam to focus on handling them.

The city is currently focusing on directing the implementation of green transformation with public transport with the goal of having 100% of buses in the city use clean energy by 2035.

"It can be said that the entire political system of the city has been and is taking action with great determination to deal with the problem of environmental pollution. However, this challenge cannot be solved by the efforts of the government alone but requires the joint participation and contribution of the whole society," Mr. Quyen emphasized.

Regarding solutions to reduce air pollution, Dr. Tung said that the world has had many good lessons to reduce air pollution from vehicles running on fossil fuels.

Beijing is a typical example: in a short time, it converted all of its more than 10,000 diesel buses to electric vehicles, and required the use of electric vehicles for all services such as post offices, inner-city deliveries, and vehicles performing environmental sanitation work.

He proposed a solution to call on people to join hands to protect the air environment through daily activities such as prioritizing green means of transportation, such as buses, motorbikes, and electric cars.

On the management side, it is necessary to consider policies to encourage people to switch to electric vehicles that have been successfully applied by other countries, such as financial support for people to switch to electric vehicles, exemption of registration fees for electric vehicles, and creating favorable conditions for land to build charging stations.

At the ceremony, Mr. Quyen called on the entire capital community, from each citizen, business to organizations, to be aware and take action to protect the living environment.

"Practical actions can start from switching to using electric vehicles or electrified public transport, not using coal stoves, burning garbage outdoors, increasing tree planting, protecting green spaces where you live - Mr. Quyen clearly stated - Let's be determined to act together from today for that noble goal so that our Hanoi is a bright, green, clean and beautiful city and truly a livable place".

Reducing emissions in transport

Within the framework of the campaign "For a green capital", Vingroup Corporation and companies in the ecosystem launched a campaign calling on the community to raise environmental awareness and join hands to reduce air pollution in the capital.

As a pioneer, Vingroup announced a drastic and specific action program "to regain blue skies for the capital, especially reducing emissions in the transport sector".

Accordingly, from January 10, 2025, Vingroup and companies in the green mobility ecosystem including VinFast, VinBus, GSM, and FGF will simultaneously implement many meaningful support activities and policies for customers who buy, rent, and use electric vehicles every day.

For customers choosing to use public transport in Hanoi, VinBus Company will support 50% of the ticket price for all customers buying single-route monthly tickets on VinBus routes from February 1, 2025 to January 31, 2026.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/chong-o-nhiem-khong-khi-cang-de-cham-tra-gia-cang-cao-20250111085932182.htm