Deputy Natural Resources and Environment Minister Bui Cach Tuyen made the statement at the 17th meeting of the ASEAN Working Group on Multilateral Environmental Agreements’ (AWGMEA) which opened in Hanoi on July 4.

Establishing the AWGMEA demonstrates ASEAN countries’ efforts to honour regional and international commitments on the environment, he affirmed.

He admitted that although Vietnam’s renewal and international integration processes have delivered the country significant achievements in socio-economic development, environmental pollution and biodiversity depletion remain big challenges.

Vietnam adopted the 2005 environmental protection law and the 2008 biodiversity law, providing an essential legal framework for environmental protection initiatives.

The National Target Program on Pollution Mitigation and Environmental Improvement and the National Strategy on Environmental Protection by 2020 with a vision to 2030 are important tools for promoting environmental protection.

Despite obtaining significant results in environmental protection, the AWGMEA has yet to propose specific programs in response to international multilateral environmental agreements.

The two-day meeting will review its member nations’ progress and consider appropriate future initiatives.

It will discuss chemical and atmosphere issues relating to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, and the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade.

VOV