Developing Vietnam’s socialist-oriented goal and model (Final part)

Final part: Properly addressing the relationship between humans and nature for sustainable development

Today, humanity is facing a global shortage and imbalance: lack of freshwater, lack of arable land (due to widespread salinization and desertification), food insecurity, and limited human resources. These challenges have pushed mankind into unprecedented difficulties.

We are facing these tragedies right here in our own country. Moreover, the more we innovate, the more we realize that our bones, flesh, blood, and brains all belong to nature, because we exist within nature. Therefore, as Friedrich Engels wrote more than 150 years ago, we cannot “live outside of nature.” Hence, the relationship between humans and nature is an essential second characteristic, alongside social relations among people.

The looming threat to the ecological environment

Humanity, even in just the past century, has witnessed its own mistakes in dealing with nature and has suffered grave consequences. Once the ecological environment is disrupted, it is difficult to speak of any strong and sustainable development. Disasters striking humans no longer stem solely from the relationship between humans and nature, but rather from the way that very relationship has turned into conflicts among people, among nations, competing for resources and even natural space. In fact, this has already happened worldwide. In Vietnam, the danger is imminent.

Therefore, it is vital to address the organic relationship between “the economic” and “the social” aspects, between “ecology” and “growth” dimensions, and between “economic efficiency” and “social efficiency” in order to avoid partial crises, the risk of systemic crises, and to ensure stable, harmonious, and sustainable development. Science and technology serve as a powerful driving force, ensuring balance between society and ecology for sustainable and human-centered development. These are the two sides of modern development that we must reflect upon to address them if we wish to grow both strongly and firmly.

Currently, only 17% of domestic and industrial wastewater nationwide is treated. The living environment is under serious threat. Forecasts show that by 2030, 2040, and 2050, salinity intrusion in the Mekong Delta could cause losses of VND 72.358 trillion, 73.530 trillion, and 76.485 trillion respectively. Vietnam has been investing in around 800 small hydropower projects. Of these, 290 small hydropower plants with a capacity of around 2,995MW are already in operation, while another 138 plants with 1,793MW of capacity are under construction. However, incidents such as dam failures, dike collapses, and downstream flooding continue to challenge localities.

Meanwhile, desertification in the central region and salinization in the Mekong Delta remain pressing challenges, especially in the 2020s of the 21st century.

Placing humans at the center

We need development that is unified, harmonious, and sustainable with nature to ensure a healthy living environment for present and future generations, not the unlimited exploitation of resources, material consumption, and environmental destruction for the sake of growth at any cost nor some alien, anti-development path of “burning money for growth”, “plundering nature for profit.”

The noble goal of socialism is: everything belongs to the people, is created by the people, serves the people, and exists for the people. The six characteristics of a socialist society defined in the 1991 Platform on national development during the transition to socialism are essentially efforts to realize that sacred and lofty goal. In line with the scale and nature of the reform process, among the eight characteristics of the socialist society we are building today according to the Platform on national development during the transition to socialism (supplemented and developed in 2011), three directly emphasize the human factor: “the working people as masters,” “human beings liberated with comprehensive individual development,” and “ethnic groups…… united and support one another in progress.”. This represents a breakthrough and innovative perspective on the human factor in the pursuit of building happiness.

Bu Gia Map National Park in cooperation with Dak O Commune People’s Committee organize a tree planting event at Truong Dinh Secondary School (Dak O commune) to mark World Environment Day 2025.

But more than ever, sustainable national development must be for the people and by the people; combining natural ecology with cultural ecology, conserving resources, protecting and enhancing the environment, ensuring quality of life, and promoting social equity. In other words, it must ensure fairness (in access to jobs, income, resources, and living standards), sustainability (protection of ecological resources), and inclusiveness (avoiding division and conflict, ensuring that everyone works and enjoys the fruits of their labor, and respecting human dignity). These issues must be addressed comprehensively, strategically, and with the highest sense of national responsibility and social ethics.

This is indeed a condition, a core content, and a guarantee for sustainable and humanistic development in both ecology and socio-economic aspects. Problems cannot be solved in an isolated, one-sided, or fragmented manner, regardless of scale or level. Reform of the socio-economic sectors must go hand in hand with proactive solutions to ecological challenges. Environmental protection must always be a top strategic priority of the national agenda, aligned with international cooperation; and vice versa. Only then can Vietnam achieve harmony between economic, social, and ecological objectives for the benefit of all people, present and future, while avoiding economic, social, and environmental crises along its development path.

Therefore, in developing the model of Vietnamese socialism, especially with a vision toward 2030 - the 14th National Congress - this issue must be addressed.

From a strategic perspective, this must be considered one of the defining characteristics of socialism, ensuring Vietnam’s transformation from mere survival to a society with a harmonized structure, rapid and strong yet truly sustainable and human-centered development, oriented toward socialism.

Building on nearly 40 years of theoretical achievements and practical implementation of the Platform for national construction in the transitional period to socialism (supplemented and developed in 2011), it is necessary to add a new characteristic (10 words) and further develop others (51 words) to form the model of Vietnamese socialism with a vision to 2045, as follows:

1. An independent, free, unified, and powerful nation (added – N.L);
2. The people as masters;
3. A highly developed economy based on modern productive forces, driven primarily by high technology (added – N.L), and progressive, suitable production relations;
4. A national, modern, and advanced culture (added – N.L);
5. Humans enjoying prosperity, freedom, and happiness, with opportunities for comprehensive development in a healthy society and balanced ecology (added – N.L);
6. Ethnic groups within the Vietnamese community equal, united, respectful, and mutually supportive in an all-round, strong, sustainable, and human-centered national development on par with the era (added – N.L);
7. A socialist rule-of-law state of the people, by the people, for the people, led by the Communist Party;
8. Friendly and cooperative relations with peoples worldwide, keeping pace with humanity (added – N.L).

To realize this value system, consistent action is needed: National pride – Ethnic resilience – People’s autonomy – Individual dignity.

This constitutes the complete model of a prosperous Vietnamese socialist society, developing rapidly, strongly, sustainably, and humanistically, in step with the times, with a vision to 2045.

In 2021, foreign experts warned: “Environmental and sustainability issues are certainly very important in Vietnam’s case, because Vietnam is a large economy with nearly 100 million people. Therefore, it is often said that Vietnam is both a cause of environmental problems and at the same time suffering from their consequences, particularly climate change.”

Dr. Nhi Le, former Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Communist Review

Translated by: M.Nguyet-Thu Ha