Quảng Ninh and smart environment strategy

Quảng Ninh Province has always paid special attention and adequate resources to environmental protection.

In recent years, in addition to focusing on developing key industries, Quảng Ninh Province has always paid special attention and adequate resources to environmental protection. The province is consistent in the view that socio-economic development must be sustainable and the environment must be strictly protected.

The province has proposed solutions and a methodical implementation roadmap to transform the growth model from "brown" to "green", is determined to implement solutions to protect the natural environment. Environmental management focuses on seven tasks – water environment management; air quality management; solid waste management; forest management; biodiversity conservation; climate change adaptation and environmental monitoring.

The province has relocated hundreds of handicraft production establishments causing environmental pollution out of residential areas into industrial zones: Hà Khánh, Kim Sen, Nam Sơn, Cẩm Thịnh; closing and restoring the environment of waste landfills; ending the pollution caused by the residues of pesticides at 12 points.

The province is preparing to relocate two cement projects Hạ Long 2 and Thăng Long 2 to a new location to match the general planning of the province and protect the environment for the world natural heritage area of Hạ Long Bay.

The province has successfully completed environmental targets, such as the forest coverage rate reaching 53-54 per cent; the rate of daily-life solid waste collected is over 92 per cent; the rate of medical waste collected and treated reaches 100 per cent; over 98 per cent of the urban population has access to clean water and over 98 per cent of the rural population has access to hygienic water.

Every year, the province spends no less than 3 per cent of the total local budget expenditure on environmental protection. Quảng Ninh has stipulated that the environmental protection fee from coal mining is 100 per cent for the local budget to perform environmental tasks. On average, each year, the total cost of environmental protection of Vietnam Coal and Mineral Industries Group (TKV) is more than VNĐ1 trillion.

Environmental protection in the tourism - service industry is also one of the issues of great concern to the province. At tourist attraction sites, there are trash cans with lids. Garbage on the shore or on the water is regularly collected by the cleaning staff for treatment. Plastic waste from tourism activities on Hạ Long Bay also reduced by over 90 per cent.

Quảng Ninh has invested heavily in an automatic environmental monitoring system in the area, including seven coastal water quality monitoring stations, five surface water quality monitoring stations, and 76 wastewater monitoring stations in order to strengthen the management and monitoring of marine environmental quality.

One hundred per cent of domestic water from new urban areas in the province has been centrally treated to meet standards before being discharged into the environment.

In the 2022-25 period, the province will invest in increasing the capacity of Hoành Bồ Water Plant by 10,000cu.m per day and night; develop a pipeline connecting with the water supply network of Đồng Hồ Water Plant; build Khe Tâm Lake, with a capacity of 1.2 million cu.m; Tài Chi Lake with a capacity of seven million cu.m, Quang Thanh Lake with a capacity of five million cu.m; build a factory to produce clean water from mine wastewater in Cẩm Phả area, with a total estimated investment cost of building new lakes of more than VNĐ2 trillion.

In addition, the province will repair and upgrade 37 reservoirs, 36 dams, and five pumping stations with a total cost of nearly VNĐ1 trillion.