Nguyen Trung Viet, head of the department’s Solid Waste Management Office, said that the project would focus on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, reducing untreated industrial waste and smoke by developing advanced technologies and expanding green areas around the city.

He told the Daily on Tuesday that under the instruction of the city’s government, the department would try to complete the project by August 1.

The department will estimate the amounts of discharged gases and waste that contribute to the greenhouse effect and then relevant departments will set a target for the reduction of gases and waste based on sustainable social and economic development.

Viet said that the city would build ecologically sound buildings, upgrade power equipment to minimize costs at industrial enterprises and encourage technology renovations to reduce harmful smoke and waste.

According to the department, HCMC has joined C40 Cities, a group of the world’s largest cities committed to tackling climate change.

Under C40’s joint declaration made at the summit on climate change in Seoul on May 21, cities in the group expect to become low-carbon cities to cope with the unavoidable effects of climate change.