Policies a launching pad for circular economy: Deputy PM

At the Vietnam Circular Economy Forum 2023 held in Hanoi by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Ha stressed that besides a specific plan with detailed targets and a consensus from the society, a legal corridor is needed to shape up circular economy models which involve the responsibilities of all sectors.

The State must play a central role in creating policies and frameworks that facilitate sustainable practices, enterprises be the locomotive, and organisations and individuals engage in the efforts to bolster the circular economy, he highlighted.

Laying an emphasis on building a national action plan to carry out the circular economy, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Dang Quoc Khanh said that the plan will provide a specific strategy in both long and short term for the country to shift to the circular economy towards sustainable development.

Over the past time, environmental and climate issues have been put at the centre of the country’s agendas and development plan, setting a goal of ensuring people’s health, quality of the living environment, and protection of bio-diversity and ecosystem, he added.

At the forum, domestic and international development partners discussed a draft national action plan for the circular economy and an implementation roadmap. They highlighted that financial mechanisms such as carbon market development and innovative financing for biodiversity and ecosystem services as well as the mobilisation of the private sector in sewage management are seen as important resources to implement the circular economy in the coming time.

Within the framework of the forum, 20 booths were arranged, introducing models and solutions promoting the circular economy towards environmental protection and sustainable development.

On the sidelines of the forum, UNDP Resident Representative Ramla Khalidi said the organisation believes building a sustainable, inclusive and prosperous world by 2030 is not only necessary but also feasible.

By shifting to a low-carbon economy and circular economy, Vietnam is able to lead and orient its development roadmap to attain sustainable development goals, she said, adding the country should invest in three strategic groups, namely better design for circular economy, acceleration of digital economy, and improvement of human capital.

Meanwhile, President and CEO of Thailand’s Siam Cement Group said with a national action plan to implement the circular economy, more Vietnamese enterprises will apply the Environment, Society and Governance (ESG) standards, adding his group are expecting to cooperate with Vietnamese partners to promote the circular economy with a view to enhancing the ASEAN bloc’s competitive capacity in the international market./.