Amending the Law on Environmental Protection to remove barriers to green growth

Removing institutional bottlenecks, reducing burdens for businesses

After more than 3 years of implementation, the 2020 Law on Environmental Protection has revealed many inadequacies, especially in administrative procedures and decentralization of management. This practice makes amending the law an urgent requirement to unlock resources and improve the investment environment.

One of the notable changes is the new approach to environmental impact assessment (EIA) and environmental licensing. The draft law proposes classifying projects into 3 groups of risks, thereby applying corresponding procedures. This approach helps businesses easily identify legal obligations, while significantly reducing costs and compliance time.

In particular, for projects with low impact risk, the process will be simplified, even requiring only environmental registration. This is considered an important step forward, in line with the trend of administrative procedure reform and supporting businesses to recover and develop.

One of the important highlights is the requirement to strongly shift from "pre-inspection to post-inspection" in the environmental field. This is not simply a change in procedures, but a fundamental shift in state management thinking. If in the past, the pre-inspection mechanism placed heavily on control before allowing implementation, leading to many complicated procedures and prolonging processing time, then post-inspection aims to give more power to the implementing entity, while strengthening post-supervision.

This approach requires the management system to be comprehensively upgraded, especially the ability to apply technology and build databases. At that time, management will no longer mainly rely on administrative records, but will shift to relying on data and actual monitoring.

According to experts, the shift from "pre-inspection" to "post-inspection" is a fundamental change, an important step to move from the "control" management model to the "creation and supervision" model, in line with the requirements of rapid development and deep integration. This both reduces pressure on management agencies and creates room for businesses to be more proactive.

In parallel with that, the draft law also promotes decentralization to localities, with about 80% of environmental administrative procedures being transferred from the Ministry level. The abolition of some regulations that are no longer appropriate, such as the requirement for trial operation of waste treatment works after licensing, is also highly appreciated by the business community. These changes clearly show the goal of the amendment: Reducing compliance costs but not loosening control.

According to experts, environmental procedure reform needs to be linked to policy tool innovation. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Dinh Tho - Institute of Strategy and Policy on Agriculture and Environment, Ministry of Agriculture and Environment - said: "Building green classification is a technical requirement and market-oriented policy tool, helping investors clearly recognize sustainable investment choices, contributing to creating a transparent, effective financial ecosystem and supporting zero net emission goals.

Finding a balance between growth and sustainability

If procedural reform is the "floating" part, then digital transformation and innovation of management tools are the long-term foundation of the draft law.

For the first time, environmental management based on real-time data is clearly introduced. The national environmental management system will integrate data for monitoring, inventorying emissions and waste information from the Central to local levels. This allows management agencies to shift from "reaction" to "forecast" of pollution.

According to Dr. Hoang Duong Tung, Chairman of the Vietnam Clean Air Network, this is a very important step forward. "To effectively control pollution, especially air pollution, data must be continuous, transparent and predictable. It is not possible to manage by monthly delayed reports as before," Mr. Tung emphasized.

Waste management is also reshaped in the direction of considering waste as a resource. The draft law supplements mechanisms to promote recycling, reuse and use of waste as input for production. This is the core foundation for the development of the circular economy.

Notably, all activities of collecting, transporting, and treating waste will have to update electronic data. This digitization not only increases transparency but also helps control waste flow more effectively, limiting illegal treatment.

In the field of climate change, the draft law has made strategic progress in completing the annual greenhouse gas inventory mechanism and promoting the operation of the carbon market. In addition, the addition of the concept of "environmental industrial services" and investment incentive policies is expected to promote the formation of a domestic environmental business ecosystem - a missing element today.

In the context of Vietnam setting high growth targets, pressure on the environment is inevitable. The draft amended Law shows clear efforts in finding a balance between growth and sustainability. On the one hand, the law reduces procedural burdens, creating favorable conditions for businesses. On the other hand, management tools are upgraded in a modern, transparent and data-based direction.

Clearly defining the responsibilities of local authorities in environmental quality management, especially air and water, is a necessary step. Along with that, the mechanism of publicizing environmental information and applying digital technology will help people participate in monitoring more effectively.

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