National Target 7 corresponds to Target 7 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. By 2030, Vietnam aims to prevent, control, and significantly reduce the adverse impacts of pollution on the environment and biodiversity, unsustainable farming and harvesting, environmental incidents, and the excessive use of hazardous chemicals and synthetic, persistent materials, especially plastics. National Target 7 addresses the three elements, including excess nutrients, pesticide and hazardous-chemical risk, and plastic pollution.

The target is anchored in the National Biodiversity Strategy to 2030, vision to 2050 (Decision No. 149/QD-TTg, 2022) and delivered through the National Environmental Protection Strategy to 2030, vision to 2050 (Decision No. 450/QD-TTg, 2022); the Scheme on strengthening plastic-waste management (Decision No. 1316/QD-TTg, 2019); the National Action Plan for Management of Marine Plastic Litter by 2030 (Decision No. 1746/QD-TTg, 2019); the Scheme on development of production and use of biological plant-protection products to 2030 (Decision No. 5415/QD-BNN-BVTV, 2023); and the Project for development of production and use of organic fertilizer to 2030 (Decision No. 5190/QD-BNN).

Key quantitative elements by 2030 - pollution and waste control (Decision 450):

• Hazardous waste collected, transported, and treated in accordance with regulations accounts for 98%.
• Urban municipal solid waste collected and treated is 95%; rural is 90%; direct-burial treatment is reduced to 10%.
• Urban wastewater treated to standards is greater than 50% for type II urban areas and 20% for the remaining urban areas; 100% of industrial parks, export-processing zones, and industrial clusters with centralized wastewater treatment systems that meet environmental standards.
• 100% of facilities causing environmental pollution addressed; 100% of very severely soil-polluted areas treated and restored; strict control of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and persistent pollutants.

Nutrients and fertilizers (Decisions 450, 5190):

• Restrict inorganic fertilizer use; organic production land reaches 2.5-3% of agricultural land.
• Organic-fertilizer products permitted for circulation: >30% of total; industrial organic fertilizer ≥30% of total fertilizer used; industrial production capacity 5 million t/yr; household-scale production ≥20 million t/yr; models for 9 key crop groups.

Pesticides and hazardous chemicals (Decisions 450, 5415):

Restrict chemical plant-protection products; biological pesticides account for 30% of the permitted list; use of biological pesticides increased by 30%; 90% of certified pesticide-manufacturing facilities produce biological pesticides; ≥80% of localities are trained in safe use; integrated pest management is applied to 9 key crop groups.

Plastic pollution (Decisions 1316, 1746, 450):

• Marine plastic litter reduced by 75% (50% by 2025); 100% of abandoned, lost, or discarded fishing gear collected, and disposal to sea stopped.
• 100% of coastal tourism areas and attractions, and of shopping malls, supermarkets, hotels and resorts, are free of single-use plastics and non-biodegradable bags; strive for 100% of marine protected areas free of plastic litter; 85% of plastic waste is collected, reused, recycled or disposed of; annual monitoring of marine plastic litter and microplastics.

Reference

Decision No. 450/QD-TTg dated 13 April 2022 approving the National Environmental Protection Strategy to 2030, with a vision to 2050 (in Vietnamese). https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?pageid=27160&docid=205605

Decision No. 1316/QD-TTg dated 22 July 2021, approving the Scheme on strengthening plastic waste management in Viet Nam (in Vietnamese). https://chinhphu.vn/default.aspx?pageid=27160&docid=203719

Decision No. 1746/QD-TTg dated 4 December 2019 promulgating the National Action Plan for Management of Marine Plastic Litter to 2030 (in Vietnamese). https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/default.aspx?pageid=27160&docid=198482

Decision No. 5415/QD-BNN-BVTV dated 18 December 2023, approving the Scheme on the development of the production and use of biological plant-protection products to 2030, with a vision to 2050 (in Vietnamese). https://thuvienphapluat.vn/van-ban/Linh-vuc-khac/Quyet-dinh-5415-QD-BNN-BVTV-2023-De-an-su-dung-thuoc-bao-ve-thuc-vat-sinh-hoc-den-2030-603662.aspx

Decision No. 5190/QD-BNN-BVTV dated 7 December 2023, approving the Scheme on the development of the production and use of organic fertilizers to 2030, with a vision to 2050 (in Vietnamese). https://thuvienphapluat.vn/van-ban/Linh-vuc-khac/Quyet-dinh-5190-QD-BNN-BVTV-2023-De-an-Phat-trien-san-xuat-su-dung-phan-bon-huu-co-den-2030-603661.aspx

• Prevent and control pollution at source: apply environmental permits, EIA/SEA and environmental zoning; classify and strictly control high-risk facilities and apply best-available-techniques roadmaps; strictly control POPs and hazardous chemicals; treat and restore polluted soil, water and air; and strengthen automatic wastewater and emission monitoring (Decision 450).
• Reduce nutrient pollution: promote ecological and organic agriculture, restrict inorganic fertilizers, scale up production and use of organic fertilizers, reuse agricultural by-products, and build value-chain models for key crops (Decisions 450 and 5190).
• Reduce pesticide and hazardous-chemical risk: restrict chemical plant protection products; develop, register and produce biological pesticides; promote integrated pest management and safe-use models on key crops; and strengthen state management, inspection and quality control (Decisions 450 and 5415).
• Prevent, reduce and work towards eliminating plastic pollution: complete legal and policy frameworks, including extended producer responsibility and environmental-protection tax for plastics; phase out single-use plastics and non-biodegradable bags; increase collection, reuse and recycling; reduce marine plastic litter, recover lost fishing gear, and keep marine protected areas and coastal tourism areas plastic-free; and monitor marine plastic litter and microplastics annually (Decisions 1316, 1746, 450).
• Others: communication and awareness, training and capacity building, science, technology and digital transformation (databases and monitoring platforms), economic instruments, international cooperation, and inspection, monitoring and evaluation.

Reference

Decision No. 450/QD-TTg dated 13 April 2022 approving the National Environmental Protection Strategy to 2030, with a vision to 2050 (in Vietnamese). https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?pageid=27160&docid=205605

Decision No. 1316/QD-TTg dated 22 July 2021, approving the Scheme on strengthening plastic waste management in Viet Nam (in Vietnamese). https://chinhphu.vn/default.aspx?pageid=27160&docid=203719

Decision No. 1746/QD-TTg dated 4 December 2019 promulgating the National Action Plan for Management of Marine Plastic Litter to 2030 (in Vietnamese). https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/default.aspx?pageid=27160&docid=198482

Decision No. 5415/QD-BNN-BVTV dated 18 December 2023, approving the Scheme on the development of the production and use of biological plant-protection products to 2030, with a vision to 2050 (in Vietnamese). https://thuvienphapluat.vn/van-ban/Linh-vuc-khac/Quyet-dinh-5415-QD-BNN-BVTV-2023-De-an-su-dung-thuoc-bao-ve-thuc-vat-sinh-hoc-den-2030-603662.aspx

Decision No. 5190/QD-BNN-BVTV dated 7 December 2023, approving the Scheme on the development of the production and use of organic fertilizers to 2030, with a vision to 2050 (in Vietnamese). https://thuvienphapluat.vn/van-ban/Linh-vuc-khac/Quyet-dinh-5190-QD-BNN-BVTV-2023-De-an-Phat-trien-san-xuat-su-dung-phan-bon-huu-co-den-2030-603661.aspx

• Ecosystem approach: pollution control is integrated with ecosystem and biodiversity protection and climate response (Decisions 450 and 149).
• Biodiversity and health: reducing agrochemicals, plastics and hazardous waste protects both biodiversity and human and consumer health (Decisions 5190, 5415 and 450).
• Principles of the Rio Declaration: the polluter-pays principle is applied - those causing pollution bear remediation and compensation costs (Decision 450).
• Access to financial resources: financing combines state budget, socialized and private capital, ODA, environmental-protection tax and extended producer responsibility for plastics (Decisions 450, 1316, 5190 and 5415).
• Science and innovation: research, technology transfer and digital databases and monitoring platforms support biological pesticides, organic fertilizers and plastic recycling (Decisions 5415, 5190 and 1316).
• Whole-of-government and whole-of-society, and cooperation and synergies: In all policies, implementation spans the ministries of environment, agriculture, industry and trade, health and construction and provincial People’s Committees, with public-private partnerships, associations, businesses and communities.
• Contribution and rights of local communities: farmers and local communities are central to safe-use models, agricultural extension and awareness activities (Decisions 5415, 5190 and 1746).
• Consistency with international agreements: the national target 7 aligns with commitments on persistent organic pollutants and regional marine-litter cooperation, drawing on FAO, WHO and regional partnerships (Decisions 450, 5415 and 1746).
• Formal and informal education: communication, training and behavior change campaigns on plastics, pesticides and fertilizers (Decisions 1746, 1316, 5415 and 5190).
• National circumstances, priorities and capabilities: targets and phasing reflect Vietnam’s agricultural structure, waste-management capacity and development priorities (Decisions 450, 5190 and 5415).

GBF Target 7 has three core elements and VN7 covers them as follows:

• Excess nutrients (reduce by at least half): partially covered through restriction of inorganic fertilizers and scale-up of organic fertilizers (Decisions 450 and 5190). Vietnam has not set a single national "halving" figure; progress is tracked via organic-agriculture and organic-fertilizer share targets and headline indicator 7.1 (coastal eutrophication).
• Pesticides and highly hazardous chemicals (reduce overall risk by at least half): partially covered through integrated pest management, biological pesticides (accounts for 30% of the pesticides permitted list and 30% of the amount used) and restriction of chemical pesticides (Decisions 450, 5415).
• Plastic pollution (prevent, reduce, eliminate): strongly covered quantified marine-plastic and single-use-plastic targets (Decisions 1316, 1746 and 450).
• Broader pollution, incidents and persistent materials: covered - hazardous-waste, wastewater, soil pollution, POPs and environmental-incident controls (Decision 450).

• International and local NGOs contribute to the reduction, control, and working towards eliminating plastic pollution: WWF Vietnam, UNDP, IUCN, MCD, GreenHub, GreenVIET, Pacific Environment, CERC
• Private businesses implement CSR program focusing on plastic waste reduction; develop and replicate circular economy initiatives, environment-friendly economy models, and renewable energy adoption.
• Community and social groups (women, youth, indigenous people etc.) establish platform promoting environment protection, green consumption.

Additional means of implementation are needed, including:

• Sustained financing (including full operationalisation of extended producer responsibility for plastics and packaging, and environmental/green taxes).
• Investment in waste collection, recycling and wastewater treatment infrastructure.
• Strengthened monitoring capacity for nutrients (coastal eutrophication), pesticide, residues, marine plastic litter and microplastics.
• Scaling-up of biological pesticide and organic fertilizer production and farmer uptake.
• Continued technology transfer and international cooperation.