Pressure from the international donor community and local shareholders, resulted in some successful policy changes, but the new environmental laws failed to provide any legal enforcement to ensure compliance. In fact, five years ago the Environmental Performance Index listed Vietnam in the top ten worst countries for air pollution.
Because of Vietnam’s environmental enforcement weakness, a litany of damages to the land and water continues to mount: two thirds of Vietnam’s forests are in decline, mainly due to massive illegal logging; air pollution increases daily due to the growing number of motorbikes; wastewater is released untreated; and industrialization pollutes rivers and streams.
It’s no wonder that Vietnam has witnessed the emergence of prominent non-governmental organizations like People and Nature Reconciliation (PanNature), Centre for Water Resources Conservation and Development (WARECOD), ECO Vietnam Group, Green Innovation and Development Centre, and Save Vietnam’s Wildlife (SVW), to name a few.