WWF Vietnam organizes marine waste collection programs. (Photo: VOV)

Plastic pollution and marine debris are becoming urgent global problems, threatening ecosystems, environmental quality, and the habitat of people and species around the world. It requires countries to work together to address this serious challenge.

The Vietnamese government has addressed this problem by revising environmental protection policies and laws, issuing the Law on Environmental Protection 2020 to regulate the management, reuse, recycling, and processing of plastic waste, developing a circular economy model of plastic use, and promulgating the National Action Plan on marine plastic waste management until 2030. Vietnam has participated in crafting a global agreement on marine plastic waste that promotes blue oceans and a green earth.   

Vietnam supports observing June 8 as World Oceans Day and establishing an Inter-governmental Negotiation Committee to begin a global negotiation for a legally binding agreement on plastic pollution.  

The WWF in Vietnam has worked with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to launch a program called “Minimizing plastic debris in Vietnam”. It is designed to effectively manage and reduce plastic debris at three marine reserves in Phu Quoc, Cu Lao Cham, and Con Dao. The project develop policies on plastic waste and communications to raise awareness and change behavior related to plastic waste, and contributes to the national action program on marine plastic waste management until 2030.