At a deeper level, it's a cultural choice: a choice to live in harmony with nature, to consume responsibly, to develop without sacrificing the environment, and to place human well-being at the center of all policy decisions.
On some mornings, walking down a street in Hanoi after a rain shower, seeing the trees shedding their leaves, the road cleaner, the sky clearer, one suddenly realizes that the peace of a city doesn't just come from high-rise buildings or wide roads. It comes from the preserved greenery, from the river that hasn't been forgotten, from a park large enough for children to play, from the habit of not littering, from someone quietly picking up a plastic bag by the lake, from a family beginning to sort their trash in their small kitchen.
These things may seem small, but they form the foundation of a major movement: a shift from development through exploitation to development through conservation; from growth based on wasteful consumption to growth based on responsibility; and from viewing the environment as a secondary aspect of the economy to viewing it as a vital condition for human survival.
In the article "For an ecological civilization, a green Vietnam, and a peaceful, sustainable ocean," General Secretary and President To Lam emphasized the need to build a society that knows how to prosper within ecological limits, considering nature as a condition for existence, a national asset, and a legacy for future generations; the article also places a safe environment and a peaceful, sustainable ocean in relation to development, security, fairness, ethics, and national longevity.
That's a very insightful perspective. Because if we only consider green development as a set of technical standards, we can issue many regulations, build many programs, and organize many movements, but we may not necessarily create sustainable change. Green transformation only truly comes alive when it becomes a culture, a way of thinking and living for society.
Green culture begins with a simple question: What do we want to leave for our children and grandchildren? A country may become richer materially but poorer in terms of rivers, forests, air, beaches, and living spaces—is that wealth truly complete? A city may become more modern in infrastructure, but if children lack playgrounds, the elderly lack shade, and people have to live amidst smog, noise, and waste—is that modernity truly humane?
Green development, therefore, is not about slowing down the nation's aspirations for progress. On the contrary, it is a way to make those aspirations go further, more solidly, and more beautifully. A nation entering a new era cannot compete solely on growth rate, but also on quality of life, on its capacity to protect the environment, and on its courage to choose a responsible path of development. In today's world, a civilized nation is not just a wealthy nation, but one that knows how to restrain itself before nature, knows how to use science to protect life, and knows how to place people and the future at the center of every decision.
Vietnamese culture has long been rooted in harmony with nature. Vietnamese villages are formed alongside rivers, fields, docks, and bamboo groves. Vietnamese people live in harmony with the seasons, rain, sunshine, water, forests, mountains, and the sea. In folk life, nature is not only a resource but also a memory, a spiritual space, a place where people learn humility and gratitude. From this tradition, green development today is not something strange, nor is it an imported concept. It is a modern continuation of the philosophy of living in harmony, knowing moderation, preserving, and thinking of the future.
But tradition only becomes a force when it is awakened by new actions. We cannot express our love for nature with words while still littering rivers. We cannot boast about our islands and seas while allowing plastic waste to flow into the ocean. We cannot talk about civilized cities while arbitrarily cutting down trees, encroaching on public spaces, and building without respect for the landscape and historical memories. We cannot talk about sustainable development if businesses still view environmental costs as avoidable expenses, and if localities still prioritize attracting investment at all costs over the quality of life for their citizens.
The "National Movement for a Green, Clean, and Beautiful Vietnam" was launched with specific criteria such as minimizing waste, sorting waste at source, limiting single-use plastics, developing green spaces, creating clean and beautiful landscapes, applying clean technologies, and complying with environmental protection regulations. What makes this movement meaningful is not just its grand slogans, but the fact that it brings green goals very close to everyday life. When a residential area adds more waste sorting bins, when a school teaches students to bring their own water bottles, when a local market reduces the use of plastic bags, when an agency plants more trees and saves electricity, when a beach is cleaned up by the community, green development is no longer a distant topic for international conferences. It has become a story of every street, every alley, every house.
From this, we see that building a green culture cannot be left to just one sector. It must be the work of the entire political system and society. The state creates institutions, promulgates policies, monitors implementation, and strictly punishes acts that destroy the environment. Businesses innovate technology, ensure transparency of responsibility, and shift from a "produce and then dispose" mindset to a "design to avoid harm from the start" mindset. Schools educate children about love for nature through concrete experiences, not just rote memorization. The press, artists, and influential figures spread a green lifestyle through beautiful, relatable, and persuasive stories. Families cultivate a thrifty, clean, and responsible lifestyle. Every citizen becomes an active participant in the green culture.
It's crucial to turn green behaviors into social norms. There was a time when wearing a helmet was a new habit, then a regulation, and finally a way of life. A green culture also needs a similar process. Sorting waste at source, limiting single-use plastics, saving electricity and water, using environmentally friendly transportation, preserving public spaces, protecting trees, not littering in rivers and lakes, avoiding wasteful consumption… initially, these might be campaigns, then regulations, but ultimately, they must become voluntary. When people do the right thing not out of fear of punishment but because they see it as an act of kindness, then the culture has truly taken shape.
Green development must also be linked to equity. You can't ask people to change if they aren't provided with the necessary conditions to do so. You can't encourage small businesses to embrace green transformation if they lack capital, technology, information, and markets. You can't protect forests, seas, and rivers without caring for the livelihoods of communities that depend on them. A humane green transformation must leave no one behind. The poor, workers in affected industries, coastal communities, women, children, and vulnerable groups must be considered in every policy. Green without equity cannot be sustainable. Green without humanity cannot be a culture.
On a deeper level, green development is the meeting point between culture and the future. Every tree planted today can provide shade for many years to come. Every revitalized river can restore memories and vitality to an entire region. Every frugal habit of a family can contribute to the responsibility of a community. Each choice to avoid plastic bags, litter, and wasteful consumption may seem small, but millions of small choices will create a big change.
The country is entering a new phase of development with a strong aspiration to rise. We need high growth, modern industry, smart cities, extensive infrastructure, and new competitive capabilities. But the faster we move, the more we must maintain balance. The further we reach, the more we must preserve our roots. Those roots are our people, our culture, our nature, our living environment, and the harmony between development and preservation.
When green development becomes a cultural choice, we will no longer view environmental protection as a secondary concern, but rather as the starting point of a civilized development model. When culture permeates the economy, growth will be ethical. When culture permeates governance, policies will be responsible. When culture permeates daily life, every citizen will become a protector of the future.
And when a child grows up in a city with more greenery, a village with less trash, a cleaner beach, a clearer river, they will understand that love for one's country lies not only in sacred words, but also in how we preserve every piece of land, water, and sky of this nation.
A green Vietnam will not only be an image of clean industrial zones, renewable energy fields, smart cities, or international commitments. A green Vietnam must first and foremost be a Vietnam of people who know how to live in harmony with nature, who know how to prosper without harming the environment, who know how to modernize without losing balance, who know how to thrive while preserving the greenness of the forests, the purity of the rivers, the tranquility of the sea, and the happiness of the people.
Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/khi-phat-trien-xanh-tro-thanh-mot-lua-chon-van-hoa-2523829.html
