Reducing Pollution

Vietnam’s rapid growth has caused various environmental pollution challenges, largely spurred by agriculture, transportation, and industrial production. The U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Reducing Pollution project supports Vietnam to address these challenges in targeted areas while demonstrating benefits to public health, employment, and sustainable economic growth. 

SUPPORTING POLLUTION REDUCTION INITIATIVES 

The project strengthens networks of local organizations, government, private sector, and academic institutions working together to reduce environmental pollution. Through these networks, the project facilitated a broad consultative process to identify six priority initiatives that reflect strong political will, community leadership, and engagement from private sector partners to address environmental pollution challenges. These include plastic waste and medical plastic waste, air pollution from road transportation and open burning, pollution from craft villages, and developing a transparent environmental data disclosure platform.

The project provides grants to local organizations to serve as the leader of each initiative. Grantee tasks include building public support, developing and advancing policy, raising additional funding, and designing and implementing targeted awareness and behavior change campaigns. In addition, the project provides small grants to local research institutions and community-based organizations for complementary research and advocacy efforts. 

SUPPORTING NATIONAL POLICY DEVELOPMENT

The project works at the national level to develop new policies and guidance that support the implementation of Vietnam’s 2020 Law on Environmental Protection. Further, the project works closely with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment’s Department of Pollution Control to advance and scale up the results from the six priority initiatives, and also to demonstrate clear connections between environmental benefits and other social benefits, including public health, employment, and sustainable economic growth.  

IMPACT

The project is expected to strengthen local leadership and action on environmental pollution challenges, including through new national policies and guidance on controlling environmental pollution. 

TARGETED LOCALITIES

The project works at the national level on policy development and at the local level in Hanoi, Can Tho, Nam Dinh, Hai Duong, Phu Tho, and selected provinces (to be identified) to support locally-led initiatives.