Not just for the rich
“Vietnam is one of the 20 countries with the highest emissions in the world. CO2 emissions have doubled in the past 10 years,” said Mr. Hervé Conan, Director of AFD Vietnam, at the workshop “Net Zero - Green Transition: Opportunities for Leaders”, organized by Vietnam Television today (June 27).
According to Mr. Hervé Conan, with an economic growth rate of at least 6-7%/year, that means energy production will increase by 10%/year and Vietnam will be one of the countries with the highest greenhouse gas emissions in the world.
Therefore, according to him, it is necessary to change habits now to bend the growth curve of CO2 emissions.
“Without any action, energy in Vietnam will generate 75% of emissions by 2050. The Net Zero target by 2050 requires decarbonization in the energy sector and the commitment of all sectors and people,” Mr. Hervé Conan emphasized.
In response to the question of whether Net Zero is a “rich man’s game?”, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Khanh, Executive Director of Research & Development (R&D) of Vinamilk, the Steering Committee of Vinamilk’s Net Zero project, affirmed that Net Zero is not a luxury game for the rich, but an obligation, responsibility, and right.
"The negative impacts of climate change affect everyone, without exception. We need to join hands to combat the impacts of climate change," said Mr. Khanh.
Sharing the same view, Mr. Morgan Donovan Carroll, ESG Director of Vinfast, said that everyone needs to strive for a greener environment, not only for us but also for future generations, for our families and children.
He also said that Vinfast will not aim to compete with Tesla but wants to produce good products, participate in the green transition process of the Vietnamese Government, and aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Meanwhile, Mr. To Viet Thang, Deputy General Director of Vietjet, said that Net Zero is a trend, especially in the aviation industry, a multinational and internationalized field, with many mandatory standards that must be followed.
“Therefore, if we do not stay ahead of the trend, we will face difficulties when countries introduce stricter regulations. This is not a game but a mission for businesses, we must be proactive and actively implement it,” Mr. Thang expressed.
Carbon credit trading platform to be operational by 2028
Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc emphasized that green transformation and emission reduction to realize the Net Zero commitment is a long journey with many difficulties and challenges. Among them, one of the biggest challenges is the issue of resources.
According to the World Bank’s estimates (2022), Vietnam may need to invest an additional US$368 billion by 2040, equivalent to 6.8% of GDP per year, to pursue a development path that combines resilience and net zero emissions. Of which, the decarbonization journey to meet international commitments accounts for about 30% of the resource demand.
“However, the public sector will only be able to meet about one-third, while the green financial market is still in its early stages of development, and the resources mobilized through the green financial market are very small compared to the demand,” the Minister said, adding that Vietnam needs to increase cooperation and support from the international community.
Accordingly, in addition to prioritizing public resources, the Ministry of Finance will actively coordinate with relevant ministries and branches in researching solutions to mobilize private resources and international organizations.
In addition, the Minister of Finance also said that in the coming time, he will coordinate with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and relevant agencies to develop a Decision of the Prime Minister promulgating a green classification list according to the assigned tasks in Decree No. 08, as a basis for issuers to select green projects and use capital from green bonds.
For the domestic carbon market, the development and implementation roadmap has been issued by the Government in Decree No. 06 on regulations on greenhouse gas emission reduction and ozone layer protection. Accordingly, from now until the end of 2027, the focus will be on building regulatory systems and policies to create a foundation for the market to operate as well as piloting a carbon credit trading floor, aiming to officially operate the carbon credit trading floor in 2028.
Ms. Ha Thu Giang, Director of the Department of Credit for Economic Sectors (State Bank) said that along with state resources, FDI, capital from enterprises and people, credit from banks is very important for economic development as well as green growth.
Ms. Giang said that in 2017, when she started to count credit resources for green projects, she only received reports from 15 credit institutions with modest scale. Currently, 40 credit institutions have reported financing for green projects with a scale of over VND500,000 billion, accounting for over 4% of the total outstanding debt of the economy.
However, credit institutions currently face many difficulties in the process of appraising green projects due to many specialized technical and environmental factors.
“Currently, the Prime Minister has assigned the State Bank to develop and issue a list as well as green criteria. This will be very helpful for state management agencies in developing policies and mechanisms, and investment incentives for green projects.
For the banking industry, this will be a source of documents and a set of criteria for commercial banks to assess, compare and consider credit granting decisions," Ms. Giang informed.
Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc said that the national strategy on green growth has 10 strategic orientations for sectors and fields and 8 groups of solutions. The national green growth action plan has also been approved by the Prime Minister with 134 specific activities.
Ms. Ngoc said that the Ministry of Planning and Investment is building a set of national green classification criteria that harmonizes many factors, including selecting green investment projects, mobilizing domestic and international resources, helping to quantify green growth progress. Thanks to that, green projects have conditions to access green finance and new preferential policies.
“If the criteria set is not comprehensive and follows international practices, it will be very difficult to mobilize resources. In the coming time, we expect to issue detailed regulations on fields and projects that are in line with green growth orientation. These are orientations and standards that are in line with international practices. On this basis, ministries and sectors will develop standards for each ministry and sector,” Ms. Ngoc shared.
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