Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh launches the annual New Year tree planting festival (Photo: VOV)

The festival kicked off a series of activities nationwide for a program to plant 22.5 million trees this year.

PM Chinh recalled that 64 years ago, President Ho Chi Minh called on the people of Vietnam to respond to a tree-planting month which has become a tradition every lunar new year since then. 

Vietnam’s forest coverage expanded from 28% in 1990 to over 42% last year, absorbing over 70 million tons of carbon dioxide, said Mr. Chinh. He highlighted Vietnam's commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2050.