In particular, from now until 2025, towards 2030, Ho Chi Minh City identifies this as a particularly important period for focusing investment on management tasks as stipulated in the Law.
Proactively remove obstacles
On November 17, 2021, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee issued a Plan to implement the Law on Environmental Protection 2020. Accordingly, Ho Chi Minh City specifically identifies the work contents, deadlines, completion progress and responsibilities of relevant agencies and units in organizing the implementation of the Law, ensuring timeliness, synchronization, consistency and effectiveness. At the same time, it identifies the responsibilities of relevant departments, branches, Thu Duc City People's Committee and districts; People's Committees of wards, communes and towns in coordinating and organizing the implementation of the Law in the city.
To implement the Law on Environmental Protection 2020, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment has advised and submitted to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee a report and proposal to promulgate newly issued administrative procedures; abolished administrative procedures in the environmental field under the scope of functions of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment. In 2022 - 2023, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment was assigned to advise on the issuance of 13 legal documents; the Department of Natural Resources and Environment is also completing the draft of the Set of administrative procedures in the field of environmental protection according to the Law on Environmental Protection 2020 under the authority of the city, district, ward and commune.
According to the leader of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Ho Chi Minh City, in the past time, in the process of implementing legal procedures on the environment according to the new regulations of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020 and guiding Decrees, there are still some difficulties and inadequacies between the practice of Ho Chi Minh City and the provisions of the law. One of the reasons is due to different "understandings" leading to different ways of organization and implementation... Therefore, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment has issued a number of documents requesting functional units of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to discuss, guide, and answer questions related to the Law on Environmental Protection 2020 and guiding documents for implementation... to ensure the process of applying the Law is smooth and effective.
Recently, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has given instructions on a number of contents related to the implementation of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020. Accordingly, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment is assigned to preside over working with the Department of Construction to unify the content on clearly defining the consideration of the functionality of construction works before considering the granting of environmental licenses; at the same time, review the guiding documents of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to unify the way to identify subjects related to the granting of environmental licenses, thereby advising and proposing to the City People's Committee directions to remove common obstacles in the field of environmental licensing to apply throughout the city.
Ensuring the carbon market operates properly
Mr. Nguyen Toan Thang - Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Ho Chi Minh City said: One of the new points of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020 is the concretization of regulations on climate change response, promoting the development of the domestic carbon market. Accordingly, the Law has regulated the organization and development of the carbon market as a tool to promote the reduction of domestic greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to the implementation of the contribution to greenhouse gas emission reduction committed by Vietnam when participating in the Paris Agreement on climate change.
In recent times, Ho Chi Minh City has been a pioneer in responding to climate change, assessing emissions, finding solutions and developing plans to achieve the goal of a zero-emission city, contributing to the implementation of the Prime Minister's Commitment. The provisions of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020 are an important legal basis and guidance to help Ho Chi Minh City accelerate the completion of the Net Zero target.
Therefore, according to Mr. Nguyen Toan Thang, Ho Chi Minh City will properly implement the roadmap of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020 and Decree 06/2022/ND-CP of the Government on regulations on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and protecting the ozone layer. In particular, the city will effectively utilize Resolution 98/2023/QH15 of the National Assembly on piloting financial mechanisms to implement measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions according to the carbon credit exchange and offset mechanisms invested from the city's budget.
Accordingly, in 2024, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment will continue to advise the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to complete the Pilot Project on financial mechanisms to implement measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions according to carbon credit exchange and offset mechanisms; select programs and projects using the city's budget to create carbon credits; determine the contribution rate of greenhouse gas emission reduction/absorption in the city to the national greenhouse gas emission reduction target before trading carbon credits. On that basis, Ho Chi Minh City will ensure that the construction of a carbon credit exchange platform in the form of an ETS will be piloted in 2025 and officially put into operation in 2028 according to the Government's roadmap.
In addition, in the coming time, Ho Chi Minh City will continue to implement solutions to promote the development of a circular economy according to the provisions of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020. The Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Ho Chi Minh City will continue to advise and propose solutions to integrate into activities and programs in implementing environmental protection work of the city towards a circular economy and green growth according to the Government's orientation.
According to Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Nguyen Toan Thang, one of the key tasks that Ho Chi Minh City will carry out in 2024 is to organize the implementation of waste classification at source according to the provisions of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020. In mid-November 2023, immediately after receiving the official dispatch from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment providing technical guidance on the classification of domestic solid waste, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment consulted and reported to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee on the implementation contents. After receiving the opinion of the City People's Committee, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment will take the lead in organizing the implementation of the work of classifying domestic waste according to regulations throughout the city, striving to complete before December 31, 2024.
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