Sustainability Standards Deal to Boost Green Finance in Vietnam

As Vietnam aims for a low-carbon growth model and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is scaling up its support to the government to promote sustainable finance and spur private sector investment, to help the country implement its climate commitments.

A new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and the State Securities Commission of Vietnam (SSC) has been signed to support the efforts of the Vietnamese government to leverage the capital market to tackle climate change through green and sustainable finance.

With IFC's assistance, SSC will promote the adoption of environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards and practices—as well as enforce ESG requirements—among market players.

This will help strengthen the sustainable finance framework, encouraging innovative financial products such as green bonds, transition bonds, and sustainability-linked bonds to attract international investors, who are looking for sustainable assets.

Vietnam is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change and natural disasters and also one of the most carbon-intensive economies in Asia.

The government of Vietnam aims to decarbonise the economy and achieve carbon-neutral status by 2050 as committed at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 26). This will require huge investments over the next 30 years with state resources meeting only part of the financial need.

"Promoting green and sustainable finance is a long-term priority for the SSC. IFC's continued efforts to encourage the adoption of ESG standards and practices among public companies will help scale up green finance, creating a sustainable capital market in Vietnam," said Pham Hong Son, Vice Chairman of the State Securities Commission of Vietnam.

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