The low-emission zone project in the inner ring and the resolution supporting green transition are major policies of the capital, affecting a large number of residents.
Therefore, the decision to not yet pass it (on June 2) for thorough evaluation and to gather more information is entirely appropriate at this time.
Accordingly, the City People’s Council has requested the Hanoi City People’s Committee to instruct relevant agencies to continue studying and perfecting the content, incorporating discussion opinions to finalize it for submission to the City People’s Council at the fourth session, tentatively scheduled for mid-June 2026.
Everyone wishes to make the city green, clean, and beautiful soon, improve quality of life, develop tourism, and aim for the sustainable development goals that many countries have successfully achieved.
But in reality, when introducing any policy, it is necessary to clarify its impacts on people’s lives and social welfare issues.
Therefore, a comprehensive and overall assessment of the existing limitations and shortcomings of the project and resolution when implemented must continue.
Questions arise such as: what about people currently using vehicles but lacking enough money to switch, or whether public transportation and charging stations for residents are adequate?
It is known that the above-mentioned plans have been specifically calculated by the Hanoi City People’s Committee, for example, the support level for each individual converting a motorcycle or scooter is 5 million VND… while currently, depending on the type, these vehicles on the market cost tens of millions of VND.
Or how will policy beneficiary families, those with revolutionary merits, and poor households be supported in their conversion? The support price level must be carefully calculated to encourage active participation and create high consensus.
Moreover, to implement this, the city must allocate a very large amount of money, while these resources are also needed for other equally important development goals.
To successfully reduce emissions and improve the environment as desired, according to the experience of many countries, a long-term roadmap and clear scenarios are necessary.
This roadmap is similar to the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) that Vietnam submitted to the United Nations after the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties – COP26.
In the NDC, Vietnam has proposed emission reduction solutions, along with a roadmap for each year and specific scenarios. When scenarios are available for application, feasibility increases significantly. Not only Hanoi but other localities should also develop such scenarios.
Alongside building highly feasible scenarios, it is necessary to continue investigating and assessing, with sufficient data on urban pollution status and its causes, to adjust directions appropriately according to the actual situation.
In summary, to create high consensus, the policy must be correct and convincing to scientists, state management agencies, residents, and relevant parties for effective communication.
If the policy is not comprehensive, has not been multi-dimensionally evaluated, only focuses on state management, energy savings, and tourism attraction without fully assessing the impacts on people and businesses, it will not be sustainable and will not receive strong support.
This question was raised by the Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Traditional Medicine, Dau Xuan Canh, during a discussion session at the 11th National Congress of the Vietnam Fatherland Front.
