50 businesses nominated as Green Businesses 2012

The Green Business Award was initiated by SGGP newspaper in 2006. And under the chairmanship of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, SGGP newspaper coordinated with the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to organize the implementation. Since 2006, hundreds of businesses have achieved this certification. In 2012, 50 businesses were selected and nominated for the Green Business list. So what have they done to be nominated for the Green Business certification?

Green space at Unilever Vietnam's Cu Chi factory

Ensure full compliance with criteria

Ensuring the award criteria is the first condition for a business to be determined as a green business or not. However, unlike previous awards, the award criteria have been classified in a way that creates more favorable conditions for participating businesses. Specifically, businesses with large production scale and foreign capital must meet 3 criteria: Have business reports that go hand in hand with environmental protection. Have investment in waste treatment systems (treatment of wastewater, exhaust gas, noise, normal solid waste and hazardous waste if any arises in production activities). Second, have research, application, and improvement of advanced technology; use production materials that are beneficial to the environment; produce environmentally friendly products; Establish and regularly train a specialized department on environmental protection, labor safety and fire prevention and fighting, ensure a good working environment, organize periodic health check-ups for employees, workers... and finally have a plan to implement activities to build civilized agencies and enterprises, clean and green landscapes; activities to raise awareness and responsibility for environmental protection of employees, workers and participate in community activities to protect the environment.

For medium, small and micro-sized enterprises, the criteria are more streamlined. Focusing mainly on 3 requirements such as: having built waste treatment systems (wastewater, dust, exhaust gas, noise), waste after treatment meets the permitted environmental standards and regulations; having contracts for collection, transportation, and treatment of domestic, industrial and hazardous solid waste in accordance with regulations. Second, having an environmental officer, good organization of fire prevention and fighting and labor safety. Ensuring a clean and green landscape. In addition, enterprises in this category must not be sued by the community for environmental issues during their operations.

The classification of small and medium enterprises is determined according to Decree No. 56/2009/N-CP dated June 30, 2009 of the Government on supporting the development of small and medium enterprises. After being classified and going through appraisal rounds such as: appraisal of documents, appraisal of reality, and selection council, enterprises will be nominated for certification as green enterprises.

What are the benefits that green businesses will enjoy?

The representative of the Green Business Award Organizing Committee said that the Green Business certificate is legally valid for 2 years. After this period, the enterprise will re-register with the Organizing Committee to be re-certified. However, within two years of being certified as a green enterprise, what benefits will the enterprise enjoy? First of all, the enterprise will be awarded the Green Business Certificate by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee; the Organizing Committee will award the Green Business Cup to the winning enterprise. The ceremony to award the enterprise's Green Business Certificate will be broadcast live and the enterprise's image will be communicated to a wide range of media. This is also an official opportunity for the enterprise to promote its environmentally friendly image to the community. At the same time, it affirms its responsibility to the community.

Not stopping there, businesses certified as green businesses will use the green label (award logo) on product packaging and participate in the Green Consumption Campaign held annually. The organization of this campaign aims to call on the community to prioritize the consumption of green products, products of businesses that do a good job of protecting the environment. It can be said that the green product consumption campaign has been organized since 2010 and so far, more than 1 million volunteers have participated in promoting the campaign. Thousands of households have made a commitment to prioritize green consumption. This shows that the green living trend has been spreading widely in the community. At the same time, it promises strong development of this trend in the near future. On the other hand, Ho Chi Minh City Trading Cooperative (Saigon Co.op) has committed to prioritize purchasing and consuming products at the Co.op supermarket system according to the ranking that green businesses achieve. In addition, during the peak month of launching the green consumption campaign in June every year, green businesses also receive many priorities from the Co.opmart system regarding display areas, information to the customer system, and product promotion.

It can be said that green production is the way businesses show their responsibility to the community. This responsibility is to preserve a green and clean living environment for people, especially those living around the area where businesses are operating. Green consumption is the way the community encourages businesses to do better in protecting the environment. More importantly, it creates a healthy competitive market where black businesses, businesses that harm the environment, and the lives of the community have no reason to exist.

According to SGGP-HV