As disaster risks grow more complex, preparedness must extend beyond the response plans of authorities to include households, schools and communities. At a rally held in Hanoi on the afternoon of October 13 to mark the 2026 International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction and ASEAN Day for Disaster Management, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment and its partners called for a shift toward proactive disaster risk management, underpinned by early warning, public awareness and community participation.

On October 9, 2026, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment held a conference in Hanoi to announce the 2025 update to Viet Nam’s climate change scenarios. With revised calculation methods, updated data and an expanded scope of risk assessment, the scenarios provide an enhanced scientific basis for policymaking, development planning and adaptation measures. Their value, however, depends not only on how clearly they identify potential future climate trends, but also on how effectively the information is incorporated into decision-making and implementation by ministries, agencies and local authorities.

Two days of technical discussions at Far Eastern Federal University in Russia highlighted the need to translate technologies and response plans into operational capability. The Viet Nam Environmental Incident Response Center (SOS) shared its experience in using a WebGIS digital mapping platform to link resource locations with equipment status and management responsibilities, helping maintain readiness through routine operations.

An international conference held in Hanoi on Oct. 8, 2026, called for closer alignment between agricultural policy, technology and innovation and the practical needs of production. Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Nguyen Quoc Tri said Vietnam needs to accelerate its shift toward knowledge-driven growth, higher-quality output and greater value creation, with scientific research judged by measurable improvements in production and farmers’ incomes.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Nguyen Hoang Hiep has urged businesses to focus on science and technology, green production, innovation to increase the value of agricultural products, and stronger linkages and public-private partnerships. Solutions should improve resource efficiency, reduce the impacts of chemicals and reflect actual production conditions. He made the remarks at a ceremony in Hanoi on October 6, 2026, where Kao Viet Nam announced initiatives to support sustainable agriculture as it marked 30 years of operations in the country.

Air pollution in Viet Nam, particularly in major cities, is underscoring the need to move from addressing individual emission sources to target-based air quality management supported by data and inter-sectoral and inter-regional coordination. This was a key focus of the national conference “Combatting air pollution and improving air quality in Viet Nam: Turning policy to action,” held in Ha Noi on September 29.

The September 24 meeting between Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Dang Ngoc Diep and Hon Jackie Jarvis MLC, Western Australia’s Minister for Agriculture and Food; Fisheries; Forestry; Small Business; and the Mid West, highlighted scope for expanding Viet Nam-Australia cooperation beyond trade in agricultural, forestry and fishery products to science and technology, climate change adaptation, biosecurity and the marine economy. The two sides also discussed strengthening business links, addressing technical issues and turning areas of potential into concrete cooperation programs.

A meeting between Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Nguyen Quoc Tri and Indonesian Ambassador to Viet Nam Adam Mulawarman Tugio on September 22 highlighted the specific market issues shaping agricultural cooperation between the two countries. From Halal products and fisheries to livestock and veterinary vaccines, expanding bilateral trade is closely tied to standards, quarantine requirements, technical dossiers and business connections.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Nguyen Hoang Hiep met with a World Bank (WB) delegation on September 9 to discuss the AgriConnect initiative. The meeting focused on ways to better connect public investment, policy and private capital to the development of agricultural value chains.

The licensing of four Belarusian companies to export boneless beef to Viet Nam, with the first shipment entering the Vietnamese market in April 2026, marks a concrete result in efforts to address market-access procedures between the two countries. In the opposite direction, the number of Vietnamese companies authorised to export meat and seafood to the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) is only about one-sixth the number of Belarusian companies authorised to export to Viet Nam, pointing to further scope for addressing technical barriers and expanding market opportunities for Vietnamese agricultural products.

Urban flooding is increasingly influenced by a combination of heavy rainfall, river flows, tides, water-storage capacity, land use and urban spatial planning. At the international conference on “Urban flood and river basin management in the context of climate change: Japan’s experience and recommendations for Viet Nam”, held in Hanoi on August 21, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Le Cong Thanh said the issue should be addressed as part of integrated water resources management, urban planning and disaster risk governance, rather than being treated solely as a drainage problem within individual cities.

Reducing food loss and waste is not only about preventing food from being discarded. It also requires retaining and circulating value throughout the food system, from production and processing to distribution and consumption.

The August 18 meeting between Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Nguyen Quoc Tri and Uruguay’s Deputy Minister of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries Matías Carámbula highlighted market access and balanced interests in agricultural trade between the two countries. These issues are directly relevant to translating bilateral cooperation priorities into concrete outcomes.

The "Viet Nam Carbon Forum 2026: From policty to action", held in Ho Chi Minh City on August 14, highlighted the carbon market’s transition into a new phase, with the legal framework being progressively completed, the domestic carbon exchange entering pilot operation and businesses facing growing pressure to make emissions reductions part of their business strategies.

Viet Nam and the United Kingdom are stepping up coordination to expand market access for agricultural, forestry and fishery products, as bilateral trade in these sectors reached about US$1.16 billion in 2025, up 20% from the previous year.

Viet Nam is working to expand low-emission rice production models to increase value and farmers’ incomes, while gradually creating conditions for the development of markets for low-emission rice and carbon credits.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) decision to establish its first ASEAN regional office in Vietnam is expected not only to strengthen cooperation between the two countries' regulatory authorities but also to support the harmonization of food safety standards, improve supply chain oversight and facilitate agricultural trade as international market requirements become increasingly stringent.