Sustainable development: Hanoi’s headache
p. 361-363
Texte intégral
August 2015
1In 1999, in his book Rethinking Development. Ending poverty, Henri Bartoli set out the inseparability between economic, social and environmental elements. At the heart of this configuration, sustainable development requires, according to this professor of economics, that “the social element is in control, that ecology is understood as a new conditionality, that the economy is reduced to its role as an instrument”.
Nguyen Trai road, the axis linking Hanoi and Ha Dong.

© 2015 / Hiên Do Benoit.
2If, in the name of social harmony during the years 1980-1990, the issue of economic development – or rather that of economic growth – was crucial in Vietnam, the concept of sustainable development today gives rise to such interest that the Communist Party of Vietnam has put forward measures to preserve the environment, especially since the credibility of the government and the sustainability of the Vietnamese economy depends greatly on sustainable development. In this way, the term sustainable development has become a buzzword in Vietnam. It has become an important issue, as seen in the position taken on development by the Central Committee in Directive 36 in 1998 and as evidenced by the establishment of a Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in 2002 following the decision of the 21st Central Committee of the Communist Party in 2001, as well as by the promulgation of the Law on Environmental Protection in 2005. In speeches and official texts, the terminology used is irreproachable : the aim is “fast, efficient and sustainable” development so that “economic growth is accompanied by equality and social progress and environmental protection activities”.
3There is awareness of the need to be “eco-friendly”, especially as the reality affects everyone. Although a bright future beckoned in the early stages of industrialization, it is undeniable that much of Vietnam’s environment has undergone significant deterioration. The level of environmental pollution is becoming alarming in many places, especially in rivers and streams. Some streams have even been declared “dead”. Recently, the Prime Minister has been called on to save the Dong Nai River from a property development project. This river, in the south of Vietnam, receives significant volumes of industrial waste daily. In the capital, Hanoi, the surface area of lakes – natural flood plains as well as beautiful natural features – has been reduced at an alarming rate due to encroachments by illegal construction and the severe pollution caused by high levels of economic activity and high population density.
Can the skytrain under construction solve at least the chronic congestion on Nguyen Trai road?

© 2015 / Hiên Do Benoit.
4Recent reports by the World Bank emphasize that the situation on the eve of the adoption of the Law on Environmental Protection calls for significant steps to be taken. Effectively, up to 60 % of the population receives water which is clean but not drinkable water and 90 % of industrial waste and hospital waste is not treated. The pollution stems from different sources, all in some way controlled by the State, including : intensive agriculture, mining, industrialization and urban concentration.
5Then there are the effects of global warming as well. A 2009 study by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) noted that the effects of global warming hampers the countries of Southeast Asia. This is hardly surprising considering a widely-cited study by the World Bank, published in February 2007, on the impact on developing countries of the rising sea level. It is thought that Vietnam would be one of two countries in the world most affected by sea level rise of one-metre by 2100, and the country in East Asia most at risk. This fact is linked to economic activity and the high percentage of the population living in the low-lying deltas of the Mekong and Red River. Without preparation or adaptation, more than 10 % of the population would be affected (the highest percentage in the world). Calculations published in this study concluded that a rise of sea levels of one metre would affect 5 % of Vietnam’s land area and 10 % of its GDP.
West Lake (Ba Dinh district, Hanoi), located a few hundred metres from the Government Palace and the Presidential Palace, has not been spared the harmful effects of pollution and collective negligence

© 2015 / Hiên Do Benoit.
6That said, sustainable development actually refers to very many questions that go beyond the environmental question and whose interlinkages require daily coordination of public action. In Vietnam, the question of solidarity vis-à-vis the generations who will live in the society of tomorrow creates, ultimately, fewer questions than the need for solidarity between all individuals forming today’s Vietnamese society. The prevailing notion is that we must first overcome a number of economic and social problems (poverty, malnutrition, access to safe water, access to knowledge, etc.) to allow everyone to satisfy his/her needs. It is clear that in Vietnam economic growth – which seems thus far the only route to development, that is to say the positive structural changes in the population that result in improved living conditions – continues apace whereas environmental and social problems remain.
7The real headache for Hanoi lies in a series of challenges : changing the quality of growth, wealth redistribution, risk management, controlling the demographics, land use, but also the education system. Economic experts in the country have emphasized that merely enacting legislation is not in itself sufficient – a set of reforms must be implemented in conjunction with legislation.
The open sewers are “unmanageable” due to torrential rains and tropical heat which can exceed 40 degrees (Thai Ha Street, Dong Da district, Hanoi).

© 2015 / Hiên Do Benoit.
8Former Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet bluntly highlighted the links between the various strands of reform in a letter concerning the fight against poverty, published in the newspaper Tuoi Tre (“Youth”) in April 2008, two months before his death : “Society will not develop without policies designed to stimulate part of the population to become rich legally. However, without appropriate policies and an effective fight against corruption, allowing “the accumulation of capital” would be like during the “wild” period, we will never be able to ensure justice and sustainable development.” This logic is also heard among the working class. One can talk at length about “strategy frameworks” and “programmes” and discuss about how to “anticipate disasters” ; however while a vast gulf separates rich and poor and education is still to become a matter of all, catastrophy looms.
9The challenges of sustainable development, encompassing all its components, are thus leading socio-economic issues faced by Vietnam since it left the category of low-income countries (World Bank classification) and entered the middle-income countries group in 2010.
Auteur
-
Hiên Do Benoit
Associate professor at CNAM and LIRSA

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