Proactive green transition for sustainable development

Socio-economic development aligned with environmental protection has been a consistent guiding principle of the Party across multiple periods. With a long-term vision, the Party early identified climate change response, environmental protection and sustainable development as strategic tasks, reflected consistently in the documents of the 9th, 10th and 11th National Party Congresses, and further specified at the 12th and 13th Congresses.

This represents a coherent and enduring leadership stance on linking socio-economic development with the efficient use of resources, greenhouse gas emission reduction and climate change adaptation, toward sustainable development. This orientation has become even more pressing as Vietnam deepens international integration and implements global commitments such as those made at COP26, promotes a just energy transition and advances a circular economy.

Implementing these consistent guidelines and directions of the Party and the State, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the entire sector have in recent years worked alongside the broader political system to pursue socio-economic development while protecting the environment. The ministry has also advised and proposed measures to competent authorities to institutionalize these orientations, formulating tasks and solutions to improve the efficiency of energy and resource use, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote green transition through state policies and regulatory mechanisms.

In the energy sector, for example, green-oriented transformation goals have been clearly articulated in Resolution No. 55-NQ/TW of the Politburo on the strategic orientation for Vietnam’s national energy development to 2030, with a vision to 2045.

On December 14, 2022, the Ministry of Industry and Trade approved the “Action Plan on Climate Change Response and Green Growth of the Industry and Trade Sector to 2030, with a Vision to 2050.” This marked an important starting point for a long-term process contributing to Vietnam’s goal of achieving net-zero emissions.

The action plan sets out objectives, tasks and solutions to promote clean and renewable energy, enhance energy efficiency and conservation, foster sustainable production and consumption, and control greenhouse gas emissions to reduce carbon footprints and drive green growth in the energy and industrial sectors under the ministry’s management. Specifically, during the 2021 - 2025 period, the ministry led the drafting and issuance of more than 250 legal documents and over 20 strategies, master plans and development plans for key sectors and fields.

Notably, on September 4, 2025, the Prime Minister signed Decision No. 1894/QD-TTg approving the Program for the Development of Vietnam’s Environmental Industry to 2030. This represents a new milestone, establishing an important legal framework to mobilize resources and attract the engagement of ministries, sectors, localities and society at large in investing in environmental industry development, meeting environmental protection requirements during the country’s breakthrough development phase.

Associate Professor, Dr Bui Thi An, former member of the National Assembly’s Committee on Science, Technology and Environment (13th tenure) and Director of the Institute for Natural Resources, Environment and Community Development, noted that in recent years the industry and trade sector has demonstrated a proactive shift toward green development. In managing sectors, products and goods related to environmental issues, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has played both a coordinating and guiding role.

According to her assessment, this guidance reflects a green development trajectory growth that is fast, sustainable and inclusive. This has been evident in practice as the ministry has begun restructuring the sector, gradually reducing reliance on industries based primarily on resource extraction and intensive fossil fuel use. Instead, it has promoted industries and fields that are less resource-intensive, less dependent on cheap labor, progressively reduce fossil fuel use and enhance energy efficiency.

She emphasized that this approach clearly demonstrates the ministry’s dual role as both coordinator and strategic guide in promoting green development across industry and trade. The approach aligns with Vietnam’s green development trajectory and has delivered tangible environmental protection outcomes.

On the right track, but with higher demands ahead

While the industry and trade sector has made concrete progress in implementing the Party’s orientations on green transition, emission reduction and climate change response, significant challenges remain.

According to Associate Professor Bui Thi An, recent progress reflects a clear shift from awareness to action in managing the sector along green development lines, but the requirements in the coming phase will be far more demanding.

Economic experts note that the industry and trade sector will need to pursue even more profound changes, guiding all industrial and commercial activities toward green development from production, consumption and processing to distribution. This includes leveraging science and technology, improving energy efficiency and limiting high-emission industries.

At the same time, despite initial success in sectoral restructuring, many small and medium-sized industrial and commercial enterprises continue to face constraints and lack the capacity to transition rapidly toward green and sustainable development. As a result, the government and relevant ministries are urged to expand access to green finance and supportive mechanisms to enable enterprise transformation, while reviewing and removing legal and regulatory bottlenecks to ensure a coordinated transition.

Overall, she noted, the industry and trade sector is moving in the right direction, with tangible results and a clear shift toward selective growth that integrates environmental protection and social welfare.

In the draft documents of the 14th National Party Congress, environmental criteria are no longer supplementary but have become mandatory and cross-cutting. This places higher demands on the industry and trade sector to develop concrete action programs with clear criteria, deliverables, timelines and accountability. If achieved, the sector is expected to make a significant contribution to realizing the Party’s goals for green and sustainable economic development under the spirit of the 14th Congress.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade’s efforts to translate the Party’s guidelines on green transition, greenhouse gas emission reduction and climate change response into concrete actions have played and will continue to play an important role in fulfilling the Party’s resolutions on socio-economic development aligned with sustainability and climate resilience, both nationally and within the sector itself.

According to Associate Professor, Dr Bui Thi An, the industry and trade sector has promoted energy-efficient, low-emission and green industrial development while maintaining rapid and sustainable growth. At the same time, green development has been closely linked to market requirements, particularly in export and import markets.

Environmental protection requirements have been embedded into export products, including traceability, emission reduction and green standards. Without meeting these requirements, Vietnamese goods risk being excluded from international markets.