Hanoi launches 'RE:EARTH' drive with 250 delegates to protect West Lake

What is the background?

West Lake (Hồ Tây) is Hanoi’s largest natural lake and one of the capital’s main green spaces. Wastewater, household rubbish, and plastic packaging from the cafes and entertainment venues around its shore have degraded its water quality in recent years. Vietnam’s 2026 Month of Environmental Action gave a government agency, an international conservation group, and a retailer a shared date to launch a coordinated response.

What happened?

On the morning of 20 June 2026, more than 150 young union members, students, teachers, and volunteers gathered at Lạc Long Quân flower garden in Tây Hồ district to launch “RE:EARTH – For a Green West Lake.” Around 250 delegates attended the launch ceremony in total, including government officials, Tây Hồ Ward representatives, businesses, and domestic and international organisations. The programme was organised by Agriculture and Environment Newspaper, published under Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, together with WWF and Lotte Mart Korea, and supported by the Tây Hồ Ward People’s Committee.

How did it happen?

Volunteers fanned out along streets bordering the lake — Vệ Hồ, Nhật Chiêu, Lạc Long Quân, and Nguyễn Hoàng Tôn — to collect litter, separate plastic waste, and clean the Lạc Long Quân flower garden itself. Organisers ran a waste-for-rewards exchange, swapping collected plastic for prizes, and staged a cycling march to promote low-emission transport and everyday green habits. Businesses set up eco-friendly product exhibition booths alongside the cleanup so residents could see practical alternatives to single-use plastic. Nguyễn Thị Thiên Phương, deputy director of the Environment Department at Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, joined WWF Korea director general Park Min-hye and Lotte Mart Korea HR innovation director Kim Beom-chang at the launch, linking a domestic government agency, an international conservation body, and a foreign retailer around one lake.

Why does it matter?

West Lake’s decline — Phương pointed to discoloured, algae-heavy water and localised fish deaths — threatens a lake officials describe as Hanoi’s “green lung,” regulating local climate and supporting biodiversity in a dense urban district. A single Saturday morning will not undo years of wastewater and packaging pollution, but it put a government agency, an international NGO, a private company, and residents to work on the same shoreline on the same day. It also gave Tây Hồ’s ward committee a repeatable template — waste-for-rewards exchanges, cycling marches, exhibition booths — that local staff can run again without outside organisers.

What were the key results?

• Around 250 delegates attended the launch ceremony, spanning government agencies, businesses, and domestic and international organisations
• More than 150 young union members, students, teachers, and volunteers carried out the shoreline cleanup itself
• Volunteers cleared litter and plastic along four named routes: Vệ Hồ, Nhật Chiêu, Lạc Long Quân, and Nguyễn Hoàng Tôn streets
• 200 eco-friendly RE:EARTH shopping bags were distributed to participating volunteer groups
• Three organisations co-ran the launch — Agriculture and Environment Newspaper, WWF, and Lotte Mart Korea — backed by Tây Hồ Ward People’s Committee
• The event opened Vietnam’s 2026 Month of Environmental Action activity around West Lake, including a waste-for-rewards exchange and a cycling march

What happens next?

Organisers describe RE:EARTH as an ongoing platform rather than a one-off event: Lotte Mart Group runs it as a sustainability brand across its retail markets, and framed the Hanoi launch as the start of continued clean-up and awareness activity around West Lake. Kim Beom-chang committed Lotte Mart Korea to further joint environmental protection work in Vietnam, while Park Min-hye said plastic pollution requires coordinated action from government, businesses, and communities together. Tây Hồ Ward’s People’s Committee is positioned to keep running waste-for-rewards exchanges and cycling marches using the launch-day model. The Environment Department is expected to track conditions along the cleaned routes as part of Vietnam’s wider Month of Environmental Action reporting.