Structural analysis of the interrelationship between economic activities and water pollution in Vietnam in the period of 2000–2011

Rapid economic growth and poor waste management have left Vietnam with severe water pollution problems. It is thus important to develop a model to evaluate the relationship between economic activities and water pollution to identify water pollution mitigation strategies within the context of economic development. Recent works have demonstrated the effectiveness of the input–output model in analyzing the interplay between the economy and the environment. To comprehensively understand this relationship, the behavior and trend of water pollution during a specified period should be investigated on. The interaction of different economic sectors and its impacts on water pollution should also be analyzed. For the Vietnamese economy, such aspects have not been fully addressed in previous studies. This work thus examines the state of water pollution in Vietnam as indicated by water quality parameters, total suspended solids and biological oxygen demand, with particular attention to the individual contribution of various economic sectors. The period between the years 2000 and 2011 is taken into account in this work. Environmentally extended input–output analysis coupled with vertical integrated coefficient method is used to analyze the interindustry linkages of sectors and to classify sector role as either key sector or pollution puller or pusher. The pollution trend reveals the tremendous increase in total suspended solids from 345,000 tonnes in 2000 to 1,199,000 tonnes in 2011, while the total biological oxygen demand increased from 43,400 tonnes in 2000 to 123,000 tonnes in 2011. Results show that the basic metals industry was the major contributor of total suspended solids, while the food, beverage and tobacco and agriculture, fishery and forestry sectors contributed most to the biological oxygen demand. The results of sectoral linkage evaluation highlight that food, beverage and tobacco and agriculture, fishery and forestry sectors were key sectors for both water quality parameters. These results provide environmental managers and policy maker insights on how to prioritize economic sectors to achieve emission reduction targets.