One woman takes on ‘big coal’ in Vietnam

Global recognition: Khanh at work as her team continues working at the NGO’s headquarters in Hanoi. — AFP

AS a child, Nguy Thi Khanh used to lie in the grass in her Vietnamese village and watch toxic emissions from nearby coal plants float past like clouds.

Today she is one of the few voices in Vietnam taking on the industry – a rare female climate crusader pushing for renewables in a country where dirty energy is on the rise.At 43, she has already founded Green ID, Vietnam’s best-known environmental NGO, convinced the government to reduce some of its coal targets, helped spark a national conversation about rising air and water pollution, and won international plaudits for her work.