This year, Ho Chi Minh City will study and consider how to calculate the green growth factor in the local GDRP.
The information was announced by Mr. Vo Van Hoan, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, Head of the Organizing Committee of the "Ho Chi Minh City Economic Forum 2023" (HEF) on the afternoon of September 15. "How much of the growth that businesses use technologies to reduce emissions must be quantified, not just GRDP in general," said Mr. Hoan.
This is one of the first concrete steps in the effort to transform the traditional economic model into a sustainable one, balancing growth and the environment, or "green economy", of Ho Chi Minh City.
At this year's HEF, the city announced the outline of the "Green Development Strategy Framework to 2030 with a vision to 2050" to receive comments from domestic and foreign experts and businesses. Mr. Vo Van Hoan said that from now until the end of the year, the city will complete the policy framework and necessary criteria.
Ho Chi Minh City center, viewed from the Saigon River, Thu Thiem peninsula area, Thu Duc City, July 2023. Photo: Quynh Tran
Ho Chi Minh City is also aiming for a number of other specific actions. To develop the market for "green" products and services - that is, meeting sustainable standards - public spending will be used as a pioneer to guide social consumption and businesses to have output.
"We have many ways such as pumping more money to stimulate businesses to invest, spending a little more to create a green product market, then there will be green growth," Mr. Hoan said. Some examples are installing solar panels in offices or buying electric cars in public vehicles. Encouraging people to walk, ride bicycles, use electric cars and develop water transport are also things that Ho Chi Minh City thinks need to do.
In addition, in the green economic framework, Can Gio is selected to become a green - carbon neutral district by 2035. The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee aims to find a way to calculate the amount of oxygen produced and carbon absorbed by Can Gio forest to sell carbon credits, in addition to issuing green bonds to mobilize financial resources. This place also has the ability to switch to using electric vehicles as well as renewable energy. Currently, Can Gio has a beach wind power project.
Many experts also proposed early actions and feasible learning models for Ho Chi Minh City during HEF discussion sessions.
Associate Professor, Dr. Vu Minh Khuong, Policy and Economic Expert, Senior Lecturer at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, suggests 5S experience in Singapore's green economic development process.
These 5S include: survival; strategy; structure; steward selection; sagacity-seeking. In which, the first step is "survival", we must be aware that green innovation is a matter of survival and there is no other choice.
Mr. Khuong gave an example of this step, Singapore considered cleaning up rivers in the period 1977-1987 as the focus, the basic thing to do before green transformation. Ho Chi Minh City can also learn from this point to clean up rivers and canals. "Green transformation should start with things that are very practical for people," he said.
To have financial resources and encourage businesses to transition to a sustainable economy, Mr. Jochen Schmittmann, Resident Representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Vietnam, suggested the solution of taxing carbon emissions.
Not only does this solution motivate businesses to make more efforts to reduce emissions and save more costs, it also creates additional budget revenue. "The government can use it to reinvest in businesses that are excellent at reducing emissions or support businesses that can further reduce emissions," the expert said.
Mr. Ricardo Valente, City Councilor for Economy and Finance, Porto City, Portugal, shared his experience that all city bidding activities require bidding enterprises to meet ESG (environmental, social and governance standards).
In addition, 100% of the electricity used in public buildings in Porto is now renewable, wastewater is treated and reused to clean the streets. By 2024, the local airport will use 100% of its energy from waste-to-energy incineration.
Along with the government's efforts, Mr. Vo Van Hoan recommended that local businesses pay attention to applying ESG, identifying profits from technological innovation and change, not from using a lot of resources and labor.
Meanwhile, people need to consume enough, consume green - choose products that meet sustainable standards, and actively participate in environmental regeneration. "Consumers should also participate in the process of planting trees, cleaning the environment, treating waste, and consuming responsibly," said Mr. Hoan.
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