Hanoi (VNA) - Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha on January18 signed a decision announcing the top 10 events of the sector last year. Beloware the selected events.

1. The 14th National Assembly approved the revised Law on Environmental Protection.

With 16 chaptersand 171 articles, the revised law marks the first time a resident community hasbeen defined as a subject in environmental protection. It also regulatesenvironmental audits, the management and handling of waste to develop acircular economy, climate change response, the development of a domestic carbonmarket, and the conservation of natural heritages in line with internationallaw, among others. The law will take effect from January 1, 2022.

2. Unusual and extremenatural disasters took place across three regions.

Hail andthunderstorms rained down violently on many northern provinces from the outsetof the Lunar New Year 2020. The dry season saw a serious water shortage in theMekong Delta, with early and deep saline intrusion for several days, exceedingthe record set in 2016.
In the wet season,central provinces suffered from a series of consecutive and intense naturaldisasters. Within 42 days, they bore the brunt of six storms and one tropicaldepression, including a storm considered one of the two most intense in the lasttwo decades. Meanwhile, rain-induced storms, floods, and landslides cost theregion serious human and asset damage, with millions of local residents severelyaffected.

3. The sectorintegrated and operated its e-government system.
The sector surpassedtarget set for the provision of tier-4 online public services. It also connectedto the national public service portal as well as to the information centres ofthe Government and Prime Minister, among others.

4. Vietnamcompleted updating of National Determined Contribution (NDC).

Despite COVID-19and a scarcity of resources, the country was among only a few to complete thistask, making a commitment to increasing its contributions to climate changeresponse.

5. Vietnamestablished a national steering committee to implement its strategy forsustainable maritime economic development by 2030 with a vision towards 2045.
The committee isan interdisciplinary agency that advises the Prime Minister on studying,directing, and resolving important and interdisciplinary tasks related to thesustainable development of Vietnam’s marine economy.

6. The Dak NongGeopark in the Central Highlands province of the same name became a member ofthe UNESCO Global Geoparks Network, while the Thai Thuy and Tam Giang - Cau Haiwetland nature reserves were established in the northern province of Thai Binhand the central province of Thua Thien Hue, respectively.

The Dak NongGeopark covers more than 4,760 sq.km of land in six of the eight district-levellocalities in Dak Nong province. It is home to 118 heritage andgeomorphological sites and nearly 50 caves with a total length of over 10,000 metres.
The establishmentof the two wetland nature reserves was in line with the law on biodiversity,affirming Vietnam’s commitment to international treaties on the matter.

7. A pact wassigned to launch the Vietnam National Plastic Action Partnership and aprogramme on mitigating marine plastic debris in Vietnam.
Signatories to thepact were the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the WorldEconomic Forum.

8. Vietnamese andCambodian officials exchanged topographic border maps at 1:25,000 scale. Themap shows the results of border delimitation and marker planting with 2,047border markers installed.

Both sides held aceremony to exchange a document approving the validity of the supplementarytreaty to the 1985 Treaty on the Delimitation of National Boundaries and the2005 Supplementary Treaty, and the Vietnam-Cambodia land border demarcationprotocol.

9. The first phaseof a governmental programme on searching for underground water resources tosupply mountainous areas and regions facing shortages of water was completed.
The phase built454 facilities and prepared conditions for the construction of 189 water supplystations in 36 cities and provinces. In the 2020 dry season, it handed over 13facilities offering free clean water in nine provinces in the Mekong Delta and theCentral Highlands regions.

10. The nationalscience and technology programme on climate change response and the managementof natural resources and environment for 2016-2020 saw significant results.

Several works wereregistered for intellectual property protection under the programme, while 233articles, including 77 with an ISI or Scopus index, were published. It alsohelped improve the capacity of the sector’s human resources via the provisionof training to turn out 1,844 masters, 980 doctorate holders, 186 associateprofessors, and 38 professors./.