Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh City
The Urban Pathways Implementation Tracker is tracking the Projects Progress
The Urban Pathways Implementation Tracker is tracking the Projects Progress
Pilot City: Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC):
Legal framework on low-carbon transition
Adaptation
Energy
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) electricity consumption assessment indicates that the city uses about 22 billion kWh of energy – accounting for 15% of total consumption of the country’s energy. Aligned with its efforts to reduce its emissions and change the trajectory of climate change, Viet Nam’s government has committed to a 25% reduction in emissions from business-as-usual scenario by 2030. This includes the intentions of the government of Viet Nam is to generate 18000 megawatts (MW) of power from wind and solar energy. The current energy plan of Viet Nam sees an increase in the use of coal from 14 gigawatts (GW) to 55 GW by 2030 and a required 10 million tons of coal to be imported every year. Electricity consumption in Viet Nam in 2014 was broken-down to 53% used by industry, 36 % for residential use, 10% for commercial and public services, and 1% by the agricultural/forestry sector. The Department of Natural Resources and Environment of HCMC, the total capacity of renewable energy in HCMC is 35.4MW so far, compared with the largest demand for load of 3,575MW in this city. HCMC is faced with the challenge that it does not have enough land area or appropriate topography to develop large-scale power generation projects such as hydropower or thermal power. Although, potentially solar energy development could positively contribute to the power demands. In April 2017, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 11/2017/QD-TTg on mechanisms to encourage developing solar power projects in Vietnam. This decision has strongly promoted the investment in solar power projects, especially the rooftop solar power projects in HCMC.
Transport
The Transport sector in HCMC contributes to approximately 85% of total carbon monoxide emissions and other hazardous substances into the atmosphere. Currently, the public bus system does not work efficiently in HCMC, and there are few public transportation options. HCMC’s department of transport analysis indicates that the number of vehicles registered in the city traffic tripled from 2003 to 2013. Moreover, at the end of 2015, HCMC had a total of more than 7.2 million vehicles registered in the city, of which more than 6.7 million are motorcycles and more than 500,000 cars – with an overall estimate (considering commuters) is approximately 10 million vehicles. Considering the existing transportation system, distributions of housing, social services, industries and businesses, motorcycles are considered to be the most affordable and efficient option for people to use getting around the city. HCMC has developed a transportation development strategy with public private partnership (PPP) approach to be pursued. The administration is currently also developing public transportation system with many large projects such as a metro system and bus rapid transport system.
Waste Management
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) discharged an estimated 8,900 tonnes of waste per day. The landfill method of waste treatment is still consistently used, with 76% of trash ending up in landfills. The waste is treated at the 687-ha Tay Bac waste treatment complex in Cu Chi district and the 614-ha Da Phuoc waste treatment complex in Binh Chanh district. The local rate of buried waste is 69 percent, while that of burned and recycled garbage is 31 percent. Dumpsites are low in cost, rely on little initial investments and are able to handle most types of solid waste, make them the easy option for city administrators. Rapid urbanisation has increased the waste management dilemma facing the city. HCMC is partnering with Mekong Delta province of Long An to build a green-tech park that spans 1,760 hectares in Long An’s Thu Thua district to treat solid waste in the southern region. A waste to energy project, the Go Cat plant became operational in Ho Chi Minh City, and has already treated 500 tons of industrial waste and generated seven megawatts for the national grid. The government has implemented numerous policies for domestic as well as foreign firms involved in waste-to-energy projects. The major regulations are mentioned in Decision 31/2014/QD-TTg (“Decision 31”), Circular 32/2015/TT-BCT (“Circular 32”), and Decree 118/2015/ND-CP (“Decree 118”). In addition, the national government has begun to revise a strategy for solid waste. The revised strategy sets the goal to collect, transport and treat 100 percent of harmful solid waste generated from production, business, service activities, medical establishments and trade villages, and 85 percent of harmful solid waste discharged by households by 2025
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC):
- HCMC is the economic centre of Vietnam
- Population: 10 million (2016)
- Average GDP growth rate: 9.5 – 10%
- HCMC contributes over 22% of the national budget of Viet Nam
- Main industries: mechanical engineering, electronics, chemicals, rubber, plastics and food processing.
- Total Area space: 2,095Km2
- Urbanised area: 494,01 km2
Legal framework on low-carbon transition
Adaptation
- The National Target Programme to Respond to Climate Change (NTP-RCC) (2008,2012)
- The National Climate Change Strategy (2011)
- The National Green Growth Strategy (2012)
- The Law on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control (2013)
- The Resolution No. 24-NQ/TW on “Pro-actively responding to climate change, enhancing natural resource management and environmental protection” (2013);
- The Action plans at the national, ministerial, sectoral and local levels on climate change response and disaster risk prevention and reduction
- The Law on Economical and Efficient use of Energy (2010)
- The National Climate Change Strategy (2011)
- The National Green Growth Strategy (2012)
- The Decision 1775/QD-TTg on “Management on GHG emissions, management of carbon credit trading activities to the world market” (2012)
- The Resolution No. 24-NQ/TW on “Pro-actively responding to climate change, enhancing natural resource management and environmental protection” (2013)
- The Law on Environment (2014)
Energy
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) electricity consumption assessment indicates that the city uses about 22 billion kWh of energy – accounting for 15% of total consumption of the country’s energy. Aligned with its efforts to reduce its emissions and change the trajectory of climate change, Viet Nam’s government has committed to a 25% reduction in emissions from business-as-usual scenario by 2030. This includes the intentions of the government of Viet Nam is to generate 18000 megawatts (MW) of power from wind and solar energy. The current energy plan of Viet Nam sees an increase in the use of coal from 14 gigawatts (GW) to 55 GW by 2030 and a required 10 million tons of coal to be imported every year. Electricity consumption in Viet Nam in 2014 was broken-down to 53% used by industry, 36 % for residential use, 10% for commercial and public services, and 1% by the agricultural/forestry sector. The Department of Natural Resources and Environment of HCMC, the total capacity of renewable energy in HCMC is 35.4MW so far, compared with the largest demand for load of 3,575MW in this city. HCMC is faced with the challenge that it does not have enough land area or appropriate topography to develop large-scale power generation projects such as hydropower or thermal power. Although, potentially solar energy development could positively contribute to the power demands. In April 2017, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 11/2017/QD-TTg on mechanisms to encourage developing solar power projects in Vietnam. This decision has strongly promoted the investment in solar power projects, especially the rooftop solar power projects in HCMC.
Transport
The Transport sector in HCMC contributes to approximately 85% of total carbon monoxide emissions and other hazardous substances into the atmosphere. Currently, the public bus system does not work efficiently in HCMC, and there are few public transportation options. HCMC’s department of transport analysis indicates that the number of vehicles registered in the city traffic tripled from 2003 to 2013. Moreover, at the end of 2015, HCMC had a total of more than 7.2 million vehicles registered in the city, of which more than 6.7 million are motorcycles and more than 500,000 cars – with an overall estimate (considering commuters) is approximately 10 million vehicles. Considering the existing transportation system, distributions of housing, social services, industries and businesses, motorcycles are considered to be the most affordable and efficient option for people to use getting around the city. HCMC has developed a transportation development strategy with public private partnership (PPP) approach to be pursued. The administration is currently also developing public transportation system with many large projects such as a metro system and bus rapid transport system.
Waste Management
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) discharged an estimated 8,900 tonnes of waste per day. The landfill method of waste treatment is still consistently used, with 76% of trash ending up in landfills. The waste is treated at the 687-ha Tay Bac waste treatment complex in Cu Chi district and the 614-ha Da Phuoc waste treatment complex in Binh Chanh district. The local rate of buried waste is 69 percent, while that of burned and recycled garbage is 31 percent. Dumpsites are low in cost, rely on little initial investments and are able to handle most types of solid waste, make them the easy option for city administrators. Rapid urbanisation has increased the waste management dilemma facing the city. HCMC is partnering with Mekong Delta province of Long An to build a green-tech park that spans 1,760 hectares in Long An’s Thu Thua district to treat solid waste in the southern region. A waste to energy project, the Go Cat plant became operational in Ho Chi Minh City, and has already treated 500 tons of industrial waste and generated seven megawatts for the national grid. The government has implemented numerous policies for domestic as well as foreign firms involved in waste-to-energy projects. The major regulations are mentioned in Decision 31/2014/QD-TTg (“Decision 31”), Circular 32/2015/TT-BCT (“Circular 32”), and Decree 118/2015/ND-CP (“Decree 118”). In addition, the national government has begun to revise a strategy for solid waste. The revised strategy sets the goal to collect, transport and treat 100 percent of harmful solid waste generated from production, business, service activities, medical establishments and trade villages, and 85 percent of harmful solid waste discharged by households by 2025
Policy Environment Assessment
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Vietnam has a population of 93.5 million (2015) and is located in Southeast Asia between the Mekong River Delta to the south, the Red River Delta to the north and the South China Sea to the east. Between the period of 1980-2015, Vietnam’s rate of population growth in rural areas significantly declined to near zero, while the resultant migration has led to rapid urbanisation across all major cities. Although the country’s current level of urbanisation is low at around 35.7%, it is projected that urban areas would accommodate over half of the country’s population by 2045 (Vietnam Habitat III National Report, 2016). While one-third of the current urban population is presently concentrated in the two largest metropolitan regions of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s secondary tier of the next three largest cities, namely, Can Tho, Hai Phong and Da Nang, is also deemed critical in addressing the future challenges of low-carbon growth.
Vietnam’s economic transition to a lower-middle income country is achieved through intensive policy reforms which shifted a centrally-planned economy to a market-driven one and led to greater agricultural yields, manufacturing output and foreign investments. In 2016, Vietnam’s GDP was 202.62 billion USD, while the GDP per capita was 2,060 USD in 2016 (World Bank, n.d.). Vietnam currently contributes 0.6% of the world’s total greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions and ranks 27th globally in terms of GHG emissions (Vietnamnet, 2017). For the period of 1990-2014, the country’s cumulative GHG emissions were 252 MtCO2e. During the same period, GHG emissions for energy (electricity sub-sector) were 50 metric tons, for transport: 31.9 metric tons and waste: 9.4 metric tons (WRI-CAIT, n.d.). Energy Vietnam’s energy sector is the largest contributor to its GHG emissions, accounting for over half of the country’s total emissions. Energy generation is characterised by high reliance on fossil-fuel sources, with coal and oil each accounting for one-third of the current energy mix. The National Government considers coal-fired power generation to be essential for energy security, which is projected to account for half of the energy mix by 2030. Moreover, the nationwide demand for electricity is estimated to increase four-fold by 2030, driven by the present and future high rates of both economic development and urbanisation. With such forecasts, the promotion and rapid implementation of energy efficiency and renewal energy-related measures is essential for Vietnam to achieve its INDC targets. Transportation Vietnam has the highest per capita ownership of motorcycles in the world, with motorbikes accounting for 96% of the country’s total number of vehicles. In urban areas, motorcycles are the most preferred choice for mobility because of its low relative price as well as lack of reliable public transportation. Furthermore, given the rapid economic development of the country, there has been a steep growth of car-ownership. Car-sales in Vietnam have recorded an annual growth of 39% since 2012, which is one of the highest in the region. Vietnam’s high dependence on private motorised vehicles powered by fossil fuels has resulted in negative consequences in three critical transport-related attributes – (a) GHG emissions: Transport presently accounts for 12.7% of the total GHG emissions of Vietnam (WRI – CAIT, n.d.); (b) Air quality: Air pollution in urban areas, particularly, Particulate Matter concentration, is significantly higher compared to other Asian cities (OECD, 2018); and (c) Road Safety: Vietnam registered one of the highest rates of traffic-related fatalities in Southeast Asia at 25 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, a majority of which involved motorcycle riders. Waste management Vietnamese cities have significantly high rates of solid waste generation compared to other Asian cities, which is also the case of Hai Phong. Comparatively, the current waste management capacities are insufficient with only 60% of the total urban solid waste generated nationwide being recycled or treated in sanitary land-fills. According to the MONRE, out of the 98 open landfill sites operational in urban areas, only 16 are scientifically considered hygienic. The waste sector also accounts for 6% of the country’s total GHG emissions. In the past decade, the National Government has issued three successive decisions, approved by the Prime Minister, that serve as policies for governing solid waste management. These comprise of – (a) The 2008 Decision which outlined a plan up to 2020 for the nationwide construction of treatment facilities; (b) The 2009 Decision which set targets for treatment of industrial, hazardous and non-hazardous waste up to 2025; and (c) The 2012 National Strategy for Environmental Protection which supplements the 2008 Decision in order to strengthen the implementation of waste treatment-related initiatives. |
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