Environment

Authorities in Thanh Hoa Province have been unable to send a sick Asiatic black bear to a rescue centre due to cumbersome procedures and inconsistent regulations.

The programme of Payments for Forest Environmental Services has provided funding totalling nearly VND2,850 billion to 34 provinces and cities in Vietnam over the past five years.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the southern Long An provincial People’s Committee kicked off a climate change project on February 26.

A Chinese man in a smoggy northern city has become the first person in the country to sue the government for failing to curb air pollution, a state-run newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Nearly 100 civil organisations and 20 poor communities in 23 cities and provinces will benefit from a project strengthening the role of Vietnamese non-governmental organisations in climate change communications and policy advocacy.

A climate change response project launched by the UK charity Oxfam has benefited 15 communes in the southern province of Ben Tre since 2012.

The number of deaths resulting from air pollution in Vietnam is expected to double by 2030, according to the latest report from DARA International.

Ho Chi Minh City has asked the World Bank to continue lending 450 million USD for the second phase of its environmental sanitation project (Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe Basin), according to the city's Transport Department.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on February 19 hosted a meeting of the National Committee for Climate Change in Hanoi to discuss its plans to tackle the hot topic of climate change and rising sea levels.

A national meeting and activities in response to World Water Day 2014 will be held on March 21 in Lai Chau, one of the provinces in the watershed of the Red river and Thai Binh river, the largest river

An influx of saline water will flow 40-60km inland, into the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta's coastal provinces next month, according to the Southern Irrigation Science Institute.

The Ministry of Science and Technology has proposed to verify large-scaled projects besides the MoNRE to ensure environmental safety.

The Tay Ninh Province's People's Committee has accepted a petition from the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment to shut down all rubber and cassava processing establishments that discharge waste water directly into the environment.

Many parts of Hong (Red) and Thai Binh rivers have seen its average water level remarkably reduced - by two metres lower than the previous 20 years.

A farmer in Vinh Long Province has been keeping thousands of night herons at his longan orchard without any support from authorities.

US Secretary of State John Kerry (L) torques an engine bolt during a tour of the Cummins-Foton plant in Beijing on February 15, 2014US Secretary of State John Kerry (L) torques an engine bolt during a tour of the

Leading Vietnamese and Japanese scientists gathered at a February 14 seminar in Ho Chi Minh City to discuss the development of low-carbon cities.

A recent study has revealed the economic benefits of wastewater collection and treatment systems far surpass their investment costs.

Authorities in Danang may sue the MNRE after it issued new regulations on hydropower discharge that would threaten the well being of nearly 1.7 million people.