Sustainable Development Goal 12, titled “responsible consumption and production”, is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations in 2015. The official wording of SDG 12 is “Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns”. Vietnam National Action Plan on Sustainable Consumption and Production (2021-2030) is in line with the stated objectives of SDG 12.
The National Action Plan aims to promote efficient and sustainable management, exploitation and utilization of natural resources, fuel, and materials, incentivize development of eco-friendly resources, fuel, materials, products which are renewable, reusable and recyclable, promote sustainable consumption and production on the basis of innovation, creativity, practice and development of sustainable consumption and production models, and promote sustainable consumption and production of domestic products, create stable and green jobs, enhance sustainable lifestyle and improve quality of people’s life towards a circular economy in Vietnam.
The Action Plan also sets the following specific objectives: Develop legal policy with regards to sustainable consumption and production, specifically: technical regulations, standards on sustainable production, sustainable design, ecological design, reuse, recycle-oriented design for production sectors; technical regulations, standards on ecolabelling; standards on sustainable tourism; standards on eco-friendly material and products, recyclable products; elaborate at least 10 technical handbooks and manuals on sustainable consumption and production, and policy on promotion of production, distribution and consumption of ecofriendly packaging which replaces single-use, non-degradable plastic items; and regulations on green public procurement.
Other specific objectives include a 5 – 8% decrease in resources and materials used for production sectors such as textile, steel, plastics, chemical, cement, alcohol and beer, beverage, paper and seafood processing; 70% of industrial parks, clusters, trade villages to organize communication to raise awareness on sustainable consumption and production; and develop and apply 20 – 30 models of sustainable consumption and production.
The Action Plan sets the following targets to be achieved by 2030: Effectively improve and implement legal policies on sustainable consumption and production; a 7 – 10% decrease in resources and materials used by major production sectors such as textile, steel, plastic, chemical, cement, alcohol and beer, beverage, paper, seafood processing and some other production sectors; 100% of industrial parks, clusters, trade villages organize communication to raise awareness on sustainable consumption and production; Disseminate and replicate models of cleaner production, sustainable consumption and production; 100% of provinces and cities directly under the Center organize communication, to raise awareness on sustainable lifestyles and consumption; 100% of supermarkets, commercial centers use ecofriendly packaging which gradually replace single-use, non-degradable plastic items; 90% of provinces and cities directly under the Center develop relevant action plans for implementing the National Action Plan on Sustainable Consumption and Production or mainstream contents of the Plan implementation into their local policies, legal documents; and 70% of provinces and cities assign relevant bodies to take charge of and assume prime responsibility for the Plan implementation.
The Action Plan has resulted in many positive achievements for Vietnam. The rate of food loss has reduced. There has been a 15% increase in hazardous waste treatment. Vietnam has applied economic measures to limit the use of fossil fuels and provided incentives to environmental protection activities.
Vietnam continues to promote the implementation of the National Action Programme on Sustainable Consumption and Production, make efforts to manage and effective use natural resources, strengthen measures and sanctions to deal with environmental pollution, initially develop and apply regulations to promote sustainable public procurement and improve policies on taxes and tariffs for fossil fuels with flexible adjustments to protect the poor, vulnerable groups, especially in the context of COVID-19. Dissemination and education activities aimed to raise awareness on environmental protection continue to be strongly promoted, with a particular focus on communication and awareness raising to change consumption habits and encouraging the use of environmentally friendly alternative products.
