Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has issued Directive No. 20/CT-TTg on July 12, 2025, mandating urgent and resolute actions to prevent and address environmental pollution across Vietnam.

The directive emphasizes the need to investigate and strictly handle environmental crimes and legal violations, with special attention to misconduct, corruption, negligence, and abuse of power by individuals and organizations involved.

The directive was issued amid growing concerns over the severe environmental degradation in several parts of the country, particularly in major urban areas where air and water pollution have reached alarming levels.

In Hanoi, air quality has at times ranked among the worst globally, while water quality in several rivers has consistently exceeded legal pollution thresholds for years.

To effectively address these challenges, the Prime Minister has instructed the Ministry of Public Security to:

Enhance monitoring efforts, regularly update the list of polluting facilities and locations nationwide, and initiate rigorous inspections, investigations, and prosecutions of environmental crimes.

Expand investigations to include related acts of negligence, corruption, wastefulness, and abuse of power.

Cases involving organized resistance or activities that disrupt public order and national security must also be thoroughly addressed.

Actively identify and urge relevant ministries, sectors, and local authorities to resolve serious pollution issues in industrial zones, residential areas, urban centers, river basins, and craft villages - particularly in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City - to prevent complex environmental violations.

Additionally, local police units at the commune level are directed to fully exercise their legal authority to handle environmental crimes and violations, with guidance documents to be issued in Q3/2025.

The directive also calls for a comprehensive legal review, recommending necessary amendments and updates to environmental protection laws to strengthen deterrence and ensure strict enforcement.

Digital transformation plays a key role in the new approach. Authorities are to expand the use of digital tools and platforms, including hotlines, Zalo Security accounts, and the VNeID app, for the public to report environmental crimes. A centralized database on environmental violations and offenders will be developed and integrated.

The Ministry of Public Security will work closely with the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment and local People's Committees to connect environmental impact assessments, environmental permits, and real-time environmental monitoring and alert systems to enhance state management and enforcement efforts.

Surveillance systems will also be expanded. Starting from Q3/2025, a national plan will be rolled out to use security and traffic cameras to monitor major roads, discharge zones, and environmentally sensitive areas to detect, investigate, and penalize polluting activities promptly.

The Prime Minister also directed the Ministry of Construction to accelerate the development of public transport systems in 2025 and beyond, curb the rise of private vehicles in large cities, promote environmentally friendly transportation, tighten motor vehicle emissions controls, and promptly finalize and implement national emissions standards for road vehicles, starting Q3/2025.

PV