Speaking at the 3rd National Environment Conference in Hanoi on November 18 Mr Trong said that 2010 is a pivotal year with a series of important events. It marks the six anniversary of the implementation of the Political Bureau’s resolution 41 on environmental protection in the country’s modernisation and industrialisation process, and five years of the implementation of the national strategy on environmental protection till 2010 and future plans for 2020.

Mr Trong emphasised that Vietnam is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change, posing great challenges for national development. He praised the environmental sector’s achievements in recent years. Environmental policies on the local level to central level and a national programme to cope with climate change have been implemented actively, and inspection activities have been strengthened so that many environmental violation cases have been prevented.

However, many problems have still remain, such as low quality of environment in some places, especially in areas near rivers, industrial zones, and craft villages and the increasing amount of forest destruction, and the illegal trading of wild animals.

Mr Trong said that environmental protection should focus not only on big but also small things because they are the root in resolving problems. Therefore, in the future, the sector should implement the following tasks: disseminating information to improve the citizens’ awareness of environmental policies, preventing and dealing with pollution, continuing to develop comprehensive policies, and diversifying investment capital for environmental projects to mobilise all available resources.

The conference approved a joint communiqué on environment.

* Environmentalists honoured in Hanoi

A ceremony to honour 74 outstanding environmentalists was held by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in Hanoi on November 17.