Hanoi (VNA) – Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha, Chairmanof the National Council for the Verification of Environmental Protection Planningfor the 2021-2030 period with a vision for 2050, chaired a meeting between thecouncil and a number of ministries, sectors, localities and experts on July 3.

Concluding the meeting, Deputy PM Ha asked the Ministry ofNatural Resources and Environment (MoNRE), the agency in charge of compilingthe planning, to stick to relevant resolutions and regulations on environmentalprotection during the designing of the planning.

Environmental protection must be the first step, the basisand the foundation for harmony between economic development and the nature, hesaid, stressing that the planning must show a long vision, ensuring that alleconomic sector can expand without causing negative impacts on the environment.

He underlined that the planning must aim to protect the environment forsocio-economic development in a nature-based and sustainable manner, helping improveand recover areas suffering from environmental pollution and downgrading.

Economic activities should respect the ecosystem and biodiversity, he said, emphasisingthe need for green and sustainable economic solutions during the implementationof “net-zero” emission commitments, along with the development of renewableenergy, green transportation, and circular wastewater.

The planning will be an important tool to implement the Law on EnvironmentalProtection 2020, and a foundation for ministries, sectors and localities torealise measures to promote green economy and green growth, he said.

The Deputy PM requested the MoNRE as well as consultation agencies to update data on natural reserves and biodiversity, and reporting thefeasibility of the construction of concentrated wastewater treatment facilitiesduring waste sorting, treating and recycling at source.

Under the planning, in the 2021-2025 period, 256 natural reserves and 21biodiversity protection facilities will be set up and managed, along with 13biodiversity corridors, 41 high biodiversity areas, 24 important ecological landscapes, and 10 important wetlands areas.

Concentrated waste treatment areas at national, regional andprovincial scales will be constructed to meet the country’s waste treatmentdemands. In 2030, three national waste treatment areas areexpected to be built, along with one at each region and one in each province,ensuring that 95% of the domestic waste in urban areas and 90% in rural areas aretreated properly, according to the planning.

It also gives directions on environmental zoning on the nationalscale for better protection, with strict protection areas, emission restrictedareas and other areas./.