Green transition requires realistic roadmap

Green transition requires realistic roadmap

The green transition has become an unmistakable trend, but its implementation requires a roadmap that reflects practical conditions and economic development needs.

Tran Anh Quy, deputy director of the State Bank of Vietnam's Credit Department. Photo: Dung Minh

Speaking at the seminar “Credit Policy and the Carbon Market: Unlocking Green Capital Flows” organised by VIR on October 14, Tran Anh Quy, deputy director of the State Bank of Vietnam's Credit Department, said that since green credit was first introduced in 2017, the sector has expanded in both lending scale and the participation of credit institutions.

By the end of June 2026, outstanding green credit had exceeded VND856 trillion ($33.5 billion), up 9.87 per cent from the end of 2025. Average annual growth exceeded 20 per cent over the 2017-2025 period.

"These figures represented encouraging progress, although green financing had yet to meet the full extent of demand," he said. "The green transition is no longer simply a voluntary choice for businesses. It is increasingly linked to legal compliance, economic development priorities and environmental and social responsibilities."

Quy stressed that green credit should not be understood simply as loans carrying lower interest rates. Green financing comes with standards, technical conditions and requirements to demonstrate environmental impact. Its core purpose is to help businesses invest in technologies, processes and production methods that reduce emissions and use resources more efficiently. The resulting economic benefits may take time to become evident.

Credit institutions also face higher costs for assessing, evaluating and monitoring green projects than they do for many conventional loans. In addition to further refining policies and support mechanisms, it is therefore necessary to raise business awareness, standardise information and strengthen project preparation capacity.

"The banking sector did not lack capital for eligible green projects, noting that commercial banks were actively mobilising domestic funding and pursuing international cooperation. The main barriers currently lie in the technical aspects of green project assessment," Quy said.

Dang Tai An Trang, deputy general director of the Vietnam Exchange, said the green transition had become a clear trend, but its implementation needed a roadmap aligned with practical conditions and economic development requirements.

Trang highlighted the need to balance emissions reduction with economic growth. Vietnam has set ambitious growth targets, while the transition to new technologies, energy systems and production methods requires substantial investment.

"If the pace of transition is too rapid and exceeds businesses' capacity to adapt, compliance costs could undermine production and business efficiency, as well as overall economic growth," he said.

"Alongside meeting environmental commitments, businesses therefore need sufficient scope to assess economic returns and select investment roadmaps suited to their circumstances."

Dang Tai An Trang, deputy general director of VNX. Photo: Dung Minh

Regarding Vietnam's carbon market, Trang described its launch as a positive first step, although trading volumes and values remain relatively modest in the initial stage.

"The market's effectiveness should not be judged solely by its initial trading value or volume. More importantly, the carbon market signals the direction of the green transition and gradually establishes a basis for businesses to incorporate emissions costs into their commercial decisions," he said.

From a financial perspective, market instruments operate based on expectations. Just as the bond market needs to establish a long-term yield curve to support pricing and decisions, the carbon market must also develop clear and reliable price signals.

With a credible reference price for carbon, businesses can better quantify emissions costs, compliance risks and the economic benefits of investing in emissions-reduction technologies. This is particularly important for projects with long investment horizons and extended payback periods.

However, establishing reliable price signals requires standard-compliant assets and transparent trading mechanisms. This underscores the need for a measurement, reporting and verification system to ensure the quality of allowances and carbon credits entering the market.

Regulators must also refine standards, disclosure requirements and market surveillance mechanisms to prevent market manipulation.

Beyond the carbon market, Trang highlighted the role of the stock market in developing financing instruments to support the green transition. In the initial stages, prioritising the development of green bonds may be more practical than establishing criteria for identifying green equities.

"Green bonds are linked to the use of proceeds for projects or activities that meet environmental criteria. Determining whether a company qualifies as green, by contrast, requires a comprehensive assessment of its business and production activities," he said.

"The development of instruments for identifying green companies should therefore follow a phased approach, supported by improvements in information quality and the market's capacity to assess corporate environmental performance," he added.

VIR