GreenHub, Da Nang City pursued to project to reduce plastic pollution and conserve clean water
On June 4, GreenHub, CECR and Da Nang city signed an MOU to implement projects to promote water protection and combat plastic waste sponsored by USAID.
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A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Da Nang, and the Center for Environment and Community Research (CECR) and Center for Supporting Green Development (GreenHub), signifying cooperation and implementation of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Collective Action for Water Conservation project and Local Solution for Plastic Pollution project to support Da Nang City’s Action Plan "Building Da Nang - Environmental City 2021-2030".
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| At the signing ceremony. |
According to GreenHub’s research in 2019 on 30 coastal in Viet Nam, over 90% of waste found in the ocean are plastic, nylon bags, plastic bottles, foam panels, ropes, plastic nets, foam boxes, ... are belong in the top 5 most found plastic waste.
National-wide, plastic pollution is increasingly receiving more attention, many local solutions are being given such as supervising marine waste, auditing plastic waste in restaurant and hotel, deploying business model with recycled products, communication campaigns to raise the community’ awareness, ...
However, the locals’ capacity, co-operation and knowledge accessibility are limited, along with lacking of comprehensive initiatives or information systems, digital platforms about plastic pollution, knowledge of environment health of Viet Nam for stakeholders to interact and connect with.
“Local Solutions for Plastic Pollution” Project is implemented by Center for Supporting Green Development (GreenHub), in collaboration with Institute of Strategy, Policy on Natural Resources and Environment (ISPONRE), Viet Nam One Health University Network (VOHUN), U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). This project is created and deployed with a purpose to authorize the local community, encouraging joint action to reduce plastic pollution. The project will focused on building, consolidating and connecting networks, communities and individuals in Hanoi, Ha Long (Quang Ninh), Da Nang and Hoi An (Quang Nam).
Stated at the ceremony, Mr. Vo Nguyen Chuong - Deputy Director Da Nang DONRE expressed appreciation for support from USAID and local organizations for Da Nang’s Action Plan to become an Environmental City, and further confirming Da Nang’s commitment to citizen engagement as they pursue this goal: “The Virtual Signing Ceremony today is also an extraordinary event, as part of the activities in World Environmental Day, June 5th, focusing on “Ecosystem Restoration” theme; this is a day of reminding, encouraging each and every citizen to join hands, participating in specific and meaningful activities for our environment.
As for Da Nang city, water conservation, plastic waste management, waste division at source, we acquire these as important benchmarks, aiming toward becoming anEnvironmental City, and these activities will take place throughout the city’s environmental protection work in the near future.”
Stated at the Ceremony, Mr. Robert Layng, Director of USAID/Viet Nam’s Environment and Energy Office shared: “Aware that Viet Nam is one of the countries most affected by climate change and environmental pollution, USAID Viet Nam is currently implementing programs to enhance environmental quality for citizens - our goal is to support an "Open, prosperous and secure Viet Nam that is effective and inclusive in tackling its own development challenges".
In my opinion, rapid economic growth needs to be balanced with environmental security to ensure growth in the short term is not compromised by long-term environmental decline. Improving environmental security is crucial to balance Viet Nam's prosperity, quality of life and sustainable, green economic growth.”
In discussion about the Local Solutions for Plastic Pollution project, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Trang, Deputy Director of GreenHub raised the new approaches this project is incorporating, that of Local capacity building; Mobilizing the participation of all parties; Locally-led; Co-designing a community digital platform.
Ms. Trang stated: “Local Solutions for Plastic Pollution is a timely project to join hands in order to develop a city-level plastic waste reduction action plan and implement specific actions in Hai Chau District and Cam Le district, as a foundation to expand the scale of the project at city and national level.”
