INTRODUCTION
“The air in Hanoi had become so thick that I felt like I didn’t have oxygen to breathe”, a 54-year-old woman says, sharing her account of the current conditions. Having lived in Hanoi’s city centre for more than a decade, she has witnessed the crisis intensify over the years (France 24, 2025).
Hanoi, the capital and second most populous city of Vietnam, was ranked as one of the world’s most polluted cities as of early 2025. This situation has continuously deteriorated in recent years, resulting in an air pollution crisis. Air pollution, however, is not a standalone problem; it is part of the broader, complex issue of climate change and its wide-ranging consequences on human lives and livelihoods. Authorities have recently called for urgent and decisive actions to tackle the issue. Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha, in a conference on March 27th, 2025 affirmed the severity of the situation and the need to take significant and immediate action to improve and mitigate the climate urgency, “we have no time to waste. We must see actual improvements in air quality this year, not wait until 2030” (Viêt Nam News, 2025; Vietnam Net Global, 2025). Despite strong and ambitious commitments for climate action by 2050, the consequences for human lives and their rights are catastrophic.
A BROADER ISSUE
The climate crisis is a complex issue, intertwined with other global challenges such as air pollution, which was the second leading risk factor for death worldwide in 2021, according to the State of Global Air 2024 report (Health Effects Institute, 2024). It relates to the presence of contaminants in the atmosphere, notably particulate matter (PM), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and sulphur dioxide (SO2).
Breathing in the pollutants risks affecting the lungs, the heart, and the brain, and may result in diseases such as strokes, ischaemic heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, and pneumonia. The exposure to air pollution disproportionately affects children, the elderly, and pregnant women (World Health Organization, 2025). In 2023, the concentration of PM 2.5 in Vietnam’s large cities exceeded the WHO safety threshold by six times. It is a disaster that takes the lives of an estimated 70,000 individuals per year in Vietnam (Pratt et al., 2024).
The climate crisis and more specifically air pollution interferes and violates the rights to health, “The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being” (World Health Organisation, 1946). This underlines the responsibility of governments to ensure a healthy, safe, and pollution-free environment for its citizens (Samet & Gruskin, 2015).
Despite the lack of a global human right pertaining specifically to the protection from air pollutants, various international communities emphasise this basic right within their commitments. One notable example is the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the most widely ratified human rights treaty in the world. Article 24 of the CRC stresses the need to
[…] combat disease and malnutrition, including within the framework of primary health care, through, inter alia, the application of readily available technology and through the provision of adequate nutritious foods and clean drinking-water, taking into consideration the dangers and risks of environmental pollution (United Nations General Assembly, 1989).
Vietnam was the first country in the region and the second country globally to ratify the treaty (UNICEF, 2016).
As a country vulnerable to climate change, Vietnam has made ambitious and strong commitments to climate action. At the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), the Prime Minister pledged to achieve zero-carbon emissions by 2050 (World Health Organization, 2025; World Bank, 2022). Moreover, various climate and green growth initiatives were launched, notably with the amended Law on Environmental Protection (2020), which represents the most significant modernisation of Vietnam’s environmental legislation since 1993 (World Bank, 2022).
The legislation outlines and supports the development of a national policy for environmental protection and actions to address pollution challenges. Article 1 emphasises that “This Law provides for environmental protection activities; rights, obligations and responsibilities of agencies, organisations, residential communities, households and individuals involved in environmental protection activities” (The National Assembly – The Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 2020). However, despite the significant commitments, the urgency of the situation requires immediate action.
THE VICIOUS CYCLE
Between 2000 and 2015, Vietnam’s economy boomed, with an increase in GDP per capita from 404 USD in 2000 to 4,282.09 USD in 2023 (World Bank, 2023; World Bank, 2022). However, the costs of this exponential economic growth resulted in the fastest growth rates of greenhouse gas emissions in the world (World Bank, 2022), a tradeoff that is deeply impacting Vietnamese socio-economics and individuals.
The country’s growth has been largely powered by fossil fuels, which Vietnam relies on for 80 percent of its energy (ANGEA, n.d.); however, when burned, fossil fuels create greenhouse gases (GHGs). Its energy sector contributes the most to its GHG production. In addition, Vietnam’s industries, agriculture, transport, and waste management have significantly contributed to GHG emissions and worsening air pollution.. As a result, Vietnam is one of the most GHG-intensive economies in East Asia (World Bank, 2022).
Paralleling Vietnam’s growing economy are the significant climate impacts, resulting in various socio-economic issues. It is reducing the productivity of workers, impacting crop yields and livestock productions, decreasing tourism revenues, limiting international investments, damaging heritage sites, degrading ecosystems and biodiversity, and reducing life expectancy (World Health Organization, 2025; Ho et al., 2023). In other words, it not only impacts individuals’ rights to life and health, but also threatens their livelihoods by damaging various strategic sectors. Calculations by the Country Environmental Analysis (CEA) estimate that Vietnam lost 10 billion USD, equal to 3.2 percent of its GDP, due to climate change impacts in 2020 (Figure 1) (World Bank, 2022). Climate change’s costs are expected to rise exponentially and become a greater burden in the future (Taghizadeh-Hesary & Taghizadeh-Hesary, 2020).
Figure 1: Estimated costs of climate change in 2020 ($ million)
Note. From Vietnam: Country Climate and Development Report (p. 7), by the World Bank, 2022, https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099355507062229876/pdf/P17724103036ee07909701028a237b6d18b.pdf. © World Bank.
NEED FOR BALANCE
Standing at a crossroads between economic growth and environmental sustainability (Khac Giang, 2025), Vietnam must invest in and leverage innovation to break the vicious cycle in which economic growth is hampered by climate change, while climate change is exacerbated by a booming economy. Instead, effective mechanisms could create a better balance and help mitigate the crisis. The World Bank has emphasised the need for a “Resilient Pathway” to adapt and acquire new capabilities for the climate crisis and the “Decarbonising Pathway”,which emphasises mitigating climate change by taking concrete actions to reduce GHG emissions (Figure 2) (World Bank, 2022).
The World Bank’s “Vietnam: Country Climate and Development Report” (2022) calls for the implementation of critical building blocks to coordinate climate change and socio-economic development. To this end, it emphasises the need for building resistance, decarbonising growth, ensuring a “people-first” focus as some vulnerable individuals and communities will be disproportionately affected, mobilising financing, and unleashing the private sector.
The implementation of the needed mechanisms is costly; however, as time passes, the costs and losses of climate change are increasing and may reach 9.9 percent of GDP by 2050 in a low-emissions scenario (RCP 2.6) or up to 12.4 percent of GDP in a moderate-emissions scenario (World Bank, 2022). While it is clear that the investments and funding of mechanisms are costly, losses experienced from a lack of decisive and immediate actions will be considerably higher. Therefore, adopting a long-term perspective is essential, rather than placing priority on short-term profits and growth.
Figure 2: A new development paradigm for Vietnam
Note. From Vietnam: Country Climate and Development Report (p. 2), by the World Bank, 2022, https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099355507062229876/pdf/P17724103036ee07909701028a237b6d18b.pdf. © World Bank.
CONCLUSION
The air pollution crisis, as part of a complex, intertwined, and global climate change disaster, has led to catastrophic impacts on human lives and livelihoods, socio-economic development, and growth.
As Vietnam’s economy has boomed in recent decades, it has been accompanied by significant GHG emissions, leading to heavy costs on human life and the country’s socio-economic status quo. In the face of this growing crisis, the people of Vietnam are struggling to uphold their fundamental right to health and life. While the authorities have made ambitious and strong commitments to climate action, the worsening situation demands immediate and decisive measures to protect both the population and the nation’s progress. At the same time, the country must prioritise a long-term vision that balances sustainable development with continued growth to avoid perpetuating this harmful cycle.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Asia Natural Gas & Energy Association (ANGEA). (n.d.). Natural Gas & Energy In Vietnam. Asia Natural Gas & Energy Association (ANGEA). https://angeassociation.com/location/vietnam/.
France 24. (2025, March). Vietnam drags feet over “urgent” pollution problem. France 24. https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250301-vietnam-drags-feet-over-urgent-pollution-problem.
Health Effects Institute. (2024). State of Global Air 2024 Report.
Ho, T. H., Van Dang, C., Pham, T. T. B., & Wangwongwatana, S. (2023). Assessment of health and economic benefits of reducing fine particulate matter (PM₂.₅) concentration in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Hygiene and Environmental Health Advances, 6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heha.2023.100045.
Khac Giang, N. (2025, February 19). “Airpocalypse” Now: Vietnam at Crossroads of Progress and Pollution | FULCRUM. Fulcrum. https://fulcrum.sg/airpocalypse-now-vietnam-at-crossroads-of-progress-and-pollution/.
Pratt, A., Khalidi, R., & Flowers, R. (2024, June 5). Tackle sources of air pollution to protect and promote health, development and productivity, say UN agencies in Viet Nam to mark World Environment Day (5 June). World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/vietnam/news/commentaries/detail/tackle-sources-of-air-pollution-to-protect-and-promote-health–development-and-productivity–say-un-agencies-in-viet-nam-to-mark-world-environment-day-(5-june).
Samet, J. M., & Gruskin, S. (2015). Air pollution, health, and human rights. The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, 3(2), 98–100. https://doi.org/10.1016/s2213-2600(14)70145-6.
Taghizadeh-Hesary, F., & Taghizadeh-Hesary, F. (2020). The Impacts of Air Pollution on Health and Economy in Southeast Asia. Energies, 13(7). https://doi.org/10.3390/en13071812.
The National Assembly – The Socialist Republic of Vietnam. (2020). Law on Environmental Protection (No. 72/2020/QH14).
UNICEF. (2016). Universal Children’s Day: A wake-up call on child rights violations. UNICEF. https://www.unicef.org/vietnam/press-releases/universal-childrens-day-wake-call-child-rights-violations.
United Nations General Assembly. (1989, November 20). Convention on the Rights of the Child 44/25. OHCHR; United Nations. https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-child.
Viêt Nam News. (2025). Vietnamese government urges immediate action on air pollution in major cities. ANN. https://asianews.network/vietnamese-government-urges-immediate-action-on-air-pollution-in-major-cities/.
Vietnam Net Global. (2025). Deputy PM orders swift action on air pollution, emissions testing for motorbikes. Vietnam Net Global. https://vietnamnet.vn/en/deputy-pm-orders-swift-action-on-air-pollution-emissions-testing-for-motorbikes-2385197.html.
World Bank. (2022). Vietnam: Country Climate and Development Report.
World Bank. (2023). GDP per capita (current US$) – Vietnam. World Bank Open Data. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=VN.
World Health Organisation. (1946). Constitution of the World Health Organisation.
World Health Organization. (2025). Air quality, energy and health. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/teams/environment-climate-change-and-health/air-quality-energy-and-health/health-impacts.
