Da Nang hosted successfully the 6^th Assembly of the Global Environment Facility (GEF-6) which took place at the Ariyana Convention and Exhibition Centre of the Furama Resort Danang from 23 - 29 June.

The GEF-6 delegates discussing the problem of global emissions of climate-warming carbon dioxide

The event saw the strong commitment by all the GEF member countries to global environmental protection, and especially showing their willingness to cooperate with Viet Nam to solve regionally and globally environmental issues to ensure the sustainable development.

Da Nang was selected to host GEF-6, partly thanks to its successful hosting of the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week 2017.

Another noticeable reason is that the government and people of Da Nang, over recent years, have made great efforts to protect their environment by reducing pollution.

Encouragingly, the city’s outstanding results from environmental protection have been highly acknowledged and appreciated by the domestic and international community through a number of domestic and international awards the city worthily received.

Notably, Da Nang was recognised as the ASEAN Environmentally Sustainable City in 2011, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Law-Carbon Emission City in 2012, and one of the APEC 20 Green-Clean-Beautiful Cities in 2013.

The city also won the 2013 Asian Townscape Award launched by UN-Habitat Regional Office in Asia. In addition, it is the only city in Viet Nam to be invited to take part in the “Promoting the Establishment of an Eco-Cities Network in Southeast Asia” project, which was funded by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2013.

In 2014, the city became the membership of the Rockefeller Foundation-pioneered 100 Resilient Cities Programme.

Last, but not least, Da Nang was honoured with the ‘Excellence in City Transformation’ award at the 2015 FT/IFC Transformational Business Awards held by the Financial Times (FT) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

It is the fact that the hosting of GEF-6 offered a wonderful opportunity for Da Nang to learn more valuable experiences from foreign countries in addressing the existing environmental issues of deep concern.

One of the most concerning matters facing the city is water security which has been defined as “the reliable availability of an acceptable quantity and quality of water for health, livelihoods and production, coupled with an acceptable level of water-related risks”.

Via discussion at GEF-6, Da Nang accessed effective solutions initiated by foreign countries which are encountering water security-related problems.

It is no denying that illegal destruction of riverhead forests, over-exploitation of mineral resources, shortcomings in the operation of hydropower reservoirs upstream the Vu Gia and Thu Bon rivers are considered as major reasons to cause severe shortage of tap water, and the salinity of the water in the downstream areas during dry season.

In particular, seaward expansion projects might not only adversely affect natural water flow, but it also the underwater world coral reefs and sea grasses, and shallow-water marine systems.

In 2016, the judgment by an international tribunal in The Hague condemned China’s land reclamation projects, and its construction of artificial islands at seven features in the Truong Sa (Spratly) Islands, concluding that it had caused “severe harm to the coral reef environment and violated its obligation to preserve and protect fragile ecosystems and the habitat of depleted, threatened, or endangered species”.

It is hoped that Da Nang will make full use of environmental protection measures discussed at GEF-6 meetings to realise its target of becoming an environmentally-friendly city in the near future.