11/03/2020
On October 31st, 2019, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) issued an indicator set for assessing environmental protection results of provinces and centrally-run cities (the set of indicators) at Decision No. 2782/QD-BTNMT. The indicator set aims to assess the implementation results of environmental protection objectives and tasks and the people's satisfaction with the living environment quality of the provinces and centrally-run cities. At the same time, to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of the State management of environmental protection; to raise awareness, responsibilities and encourage efforts of the State management agencies and people in environmental protection.
In the world, the application of criteria and indicator sets related to the assessment and ranking of environmental protection has become popular. At the global level, the set of environmental performance indicators (EPI) developed by Yale University and Columbia University (USA) in cooperation with the World Economic Forum and the European Cooperation Center since 2006, has been officially applied since 2008, for biennial assessment and ranking of environmental performance for most countries in the world. With 10 times of application for assessment for the countries, the EPI set still maintains two main target groups (environmental health and ecosystem vitality), but there are adjustments in policies, specific assessment indicators, with about 9 - 14 policy groups and 22 - 25 assessment indicators; the corresponding weights for the specific target groups, policies and indicators are also changed according to each assessment period to suit the priority and importance of environmental protection activities.
Based on this EPI set, since 2010, China and Malaysia have also developed their own sets of indicators, appropriate to the conditions of each country, to assess and rank the country’s states and provinces for the assessment and development of environmental protection policies, aiming to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. In addition, other countries have developed indicator sets such as the Green City Index, which has been applied in some countries of Europe, Americas, Asia; or the Green Local Index, which has been implemented in Canada and the US since 2010, with the aim of helping city and local managers compare and monitor the progress in environmental protection over the years, as well as develop policies to improve the environment.
In Việt Nam, in recent years, there have also been a number of indicator sets in many fields that have been studied, developed, issued and implemented, serving the purpose of assessment, comparison and ranking among localities, assessing the satisfaction of people and organizations of the Ministries and branches such as: Provincial competitiveness index (PCI); Provincial Administrative Reforms (PAR) index of the Ministries, branches and localities; citizens’ and organizations’ satisfaction index of public administration agencies’ services (Sipas); citizens’ and organizations’ satisfaction index of public services; Set of criteria for assessing and ranking food safety management in agriculture; Set of indicators for monitoring and assessing rural clean water and environmental sanitation; smart city index; green urban index; Set of indicators for assessing the results of environmental pollution control in the sea and islands...
However, in our country, there is currently no comprehensive set of assessment tools to show the implementation results of environmental protection objectives and tasks, as well as the people’ and organizations’ satisfaction with the environment, in order to monitor and compare the implementation results and make necessary adjustments suitable to the reality, thereby improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the State management of environmental protection. Therefore, the development and issuance of the indicator set for assessing environmental protection results of localities will contribute to monitoring, comparing and ranking the implementation results of environmental protection activities of localities and among localities; clearly identifying strengths and weaknesses in the implementation of policies and laws on environmental protection to take effective adjustment measures; strengthening the responsibilities of the State management and encouraging local efforts in environmental protection.
Basic contents of the indicator set
The indicator set is developed on the basis of legal grounds: Law on Environmental Protection 2014; Law on Biodiversity 2008; Law on Statistics 2015; Resolution No. 08/NQ-CP dated January 23, 2014 of the Government on the Action Program of the implementation of Resolution No. 24/NQ-TW dated March 6th, 2013 of the 11th Party Central Executive Committee on Proactively responding to climate change, strengthening resource management and environmental protection; Directive No. 25/CT-TTg dated August 31st, 2016 on a number of urgent tasks and solutions in the field of environmental protection; Decision No. 622/QD-TTg dated May 10th, 2017 of the Prime Minister promulgating the National Action Plan to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The indicator set is structured into 2 groups including: Assessment of the implementation results of environmental protection objectives and tasks and Assessment of the people's satisfaction with the living environment quality.
The proportion of industrial zones, export processing zones and high-tech zones with centralized
wastewater treatment systems meeting environmental technical regulations is a component indicator of the indicator set
For the assessment of the implementation results of environmental protection objectives and tasks, the indicator set has set criteria and component indicators for assessment. Accordingly, the assessment criteria include: Protection of the living environment quality (control of pollution sources; management of hazardous waste and ordinary solid waste; remedying pollution and improving environmental quality; providing clean water and environmental sanitation); Protection of the ecosystem vitality (nature conservation and biodiversity; forest protection and development); Protection of the climate system (using renewable energy); the State management capacity on environmental protection (technical infrastructure for environmental protection; investment for environmental protection; human resources for the State management of environmental protection; efficiency of hotlines on environmental pollution).
Based on the above criteria, the indicator set also provides 26 component indicators (group I): The proportion of urban domestic wastewater of category IV or higher with the treatment meeting environmental technical regulations; The proportion of production, business and service establishments generating wastewater from 50 m3/day (24 hours) or more with wastewater treatment systems meeting environmental technical regulations; The proportion of industrial parks, export processing zones and high-tech parks with centralized wastewater treatment systems meeting environmental technical regulations; The proportion of industrial clusters with centralized wastewater treatment systems meeting environmental technical regulations; The proportion of health facilities with wastewater treatment systems meeting environmental technical regulations; The proportion of thorough handling of establishments causing serious environmental pollution; The number of public transport per 10.000 urban population; The number of environmental incidents caused by waste; The proportion of treated hazardous waste meeting environmental protection requirements; The proportion of provincial, district-level state agencies, party agencies, socio-political organizations, public service business entities; supermarkets and tourist resorts with regulations, commitments and implementation plans on anti-plastic waste; The proportion of domestic solid waste separated at source; The proportion of treated domestic solid waste meeting environmental protection requirements; The proportion of hygienic domestic solid waste landfills; The proportion of polluted land areas treated and renovated; The proportion of urban population supplied with clean water through centralized water supply systems; The proportion of rural population using clean water; The proportion of rural households having hygienic toilets; The proportion of land area of nature reserves established on the total area of land planned for nature conservation and biodiversity; The proportion of newly planted forest area concentrated on the area of land planned for forestry; The area of natural forest burnt and cleared; The output of electricity from renewable energy; The number of automatic monitoring stations of air quality in urban centers of category IV or higher per 10,000 urban population; The proportion of industrial parks, production, business and service establishments installing automatic and continuous monitoring systems of wastewater and exhaust gas and transferring data directly to the local Department of Natural Resources and Environment in accordance with the Law; The proportion of budget expenditure on environmental protection; The number of civil servants and officials performing environmental protection tasks per 1 million people; The proportion of processing reports and petitions on environmental pollution via hotlines
For the assessment of the people's satisfaction with the living environment quality, the indicator set provides the following criteria: Ambient air environment quality; surface water environment quality; soil environment quality; natural landscape and biodiversity. The component indicators assessing the people's satisfaction (group II) is the proportion of people satisfied for the living environment quality.
The implementation of Group I’s indicators is organized, gathered and assessed by the provincial People's Committees; Group II’s indicators will be implemented through sociological surveys. Based on the local self-assessment results and sociological surveys, the MONRE will establish an intersectoral Appraisal Council to organize appraisal and assessment. The environmental protection results of localities will be announced on the occasion of the World Environment Day (June 5th) next year for assessment and publicization on the website of the MONRE, the Vietnam Environment Administration (VEA) and other localities. This indicator set is applied annually and officially from 2020. The VEA is the main agency in charge of organizing the deployment of guidance, training, monitoring, urging and inspecting the implementation; at the same time, stipulating the responsibilities of the units under the Ministry and the People's Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities in the implementation.
The indicator set will serve as a basis for assessing the implementation of objectives and tasks on environmental protection and the people’ and organizations’ satisfaction with environmental protection in order to accelerate the process of perfecting environmental protection tools suitable with the country's socio-economic development situation and sustainable development goals in the coming time.
Đặng Quốc Thắng
Vietnam Environment Administration
(Source: Vietnam Environment Administration Magazine, English Edition III - 2019)
