Minister Pham Khoi Nguyen said good management of natural resources and effective protection of the environment will help stabilise society.
Nguyen vowed to eradicate the availing practice of "ask and give" in land and natural resources.
"To turn this goal into a reality it is important to have good legal documents, and policies in place," said the minister. "The next step is to set up apparatuses and organise the implementation."
Tasks for 2009
Outlining the ministry’s key tasks for the year, Nguyen said the ministry will try to complete legal documents relating to land and natural resources - the principle documents guiding the ministry’s work.
In addition the ministry will revise other related laws to include economic and financial tools in the laws such as tariffs, fees and charges and bidding and auction regulations.
The ministry will speed up the process of completing its organisational structure from the central level to the grassroots, in line with Government Decree 25/2008/ND-CP signed on March 4, 2008, regulating the ministry’s functions, tasks, rights and obligations.
Land management remains the biggest challenge for the MoNRE.
The minister said he will instruct his subordinates to prepare and issue guiding documents to facilitate the setting up of land management agencies from the national to grass roots levels.
"One of the challenges facing the ministry this year is that it has to absorb management of land finances from the Ministry of Finance," he said.
"That’s why in the first quarter of the year, the apparatus handling land price and land finance must be completed and put into commission at the central level. The ministry will formulate a detailed plan on the same organisational structure at lower levels, "Land prices are the key to the land issue."
In addition the ministry will continue to make positive changes in land allocation, land leasing as well as land revocation in accordance with the law.
Nguyen said his ministry agreed to work with the Ministry of Construction to combine granting of certificates on land use rights and house ownership.
Sustainable economic development
The minister said sustainable economic development requires real incomes for the people, increased social production, the eradication of hunger and alleviation of poverty.
"That’s why sustainable development in the environment is closely associated with sustainable development of the economy and society," he said.
"Achieving sustainable development in the environment means we have utilised, reused and recycled natural resources and energy, helped prevent and reduce environmental pollution as well as protected biodiversity."
He said environmental protection was another key task for the ministry this year.
"We’ll work closely with ministries, sectors and localities to implement the national strategy on environmental protection," he said.
"One of the activities we are going to carry out this year is to conduct an overall check on all production units and enterprises across the country to make sure they are complying with the law on environmental protection."
Climate change
Minister Nguyen said his ministry has worked with other ministries to develop the National Programme to respond to climate change from 2009-2015, which was approved by the Prime Minister on December 2, last year.
Under the programme, in 2009 the ministry will try to complete and publicise various scenarios on climate change impact in Viet Nam, particularly the effects of the rising sea level over the next two years.
Concerned agencies and localities will work out their action plans based on the scenarios.
The climate change programme up to 2015 will cost VND2 trillion (US$121.2 million).
The draft National Target Programme in Responding to Climate Change (NTP RCC) would use the funds to present 36 detailed scenarios on climate change drawn up by international scientists.
The Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) Board in Copenhagen will provide Viet Nam’s climate change response programme with approximately $40 million towards adaptation and mitigation efforts. The World Conservation Union will also grant Viet Nam $5 million to build action plans to prepare for the impact of climate change impacts.
Viet Nam is believed to be one of the five countries most vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change. It is estimated that for the past 50 years, average temperatures in Viet Nam have risen by 0.7 degrees and could rise by another 3 degrees by 2100. A 1m rise in the sea level would affect approximately 5% of Viet Nam’s land area, 11 per cent of the population and 7 per cent of agriculture, while reducing the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 10 per cent. (VNS)
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