The Law specifies that environmental protection should be in harmony with economic development, social protection, biodiversity protection and adapting to climate change. The revised law replaces a previous version published in 2005 and states that protecting the environment is the responsibility of all agencies, organisations, households and individuals; that organisations and individuals that benefit from the environment are responsible for providing financial support for environmental protection activities; and also outlines a polluter-pays principle. It recommends that the development and use of clean and renewable forms of energy be encouraged to reduce GHG emissions and to protect the ozone layer. It also specifies that a road map be developed so that Vietnam may participate in global GHG mitigation activities appropriate to the country's socio-economic circumstances and the international treaties of which Vietnam is a member. The law requires the development of a National Environmental Protection Plan to assess the current environmental status, and environmental and climate change forecasts. It introduces several environmental criteria to classify investment projects, including (1) scale, capacity, and type of production, business or services; (2) the area of land use, of land with water surface and/or of sea area, the scale of exploitation of natural resources; and (3) sensitive environmental factors. Such criteria will help determine which project is subject to environment impact preliminary assessment (EIPA), environment impact assessment (EIA) and environment permit.
Decree 05/2025/ND-CP requires the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment to develop a national and regional monitoring and evaluation system for climate change adaptation activities; develop criteria for identifying priority projects and tasks related to climate change adaptation; develop criteria for assessing impacts, vulnerability, risks, and criteria for assessing losses and damages caused by climate change; and develop reports assessing impacts, vulnerability, risks, losses and damages caused by climate change at the national and sectoral levels.
