Vietnam green credit and carbon market: what the pilot means for business capital

vietnam.vn

by eco_tracker_99·12 days ago·1 points

Vietnam's central bank is pushing to link green credit with the domestic carbon market as a way to expand financing for the net zero transition. At an October 14 workshop, Deputy Governor Nguyen Ngoc Canh said the two tools should complement each other: green loans pay for cleaner technology, while verified emission reductions can generate revenue that improves a company's ability to repay debt. The government's Decree 29/2026/ND-CP sets up a domestic carbon exchange, with a pilot in 2025-2026 covering over 511 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent from thermal power, iron and steel, and cement. The scale is significant. Vietnam's outstanding green credit is expected to exceed 856,000 billion VND by June 2026, with average annual growth above 20% since 2017. At the same time, the Asian Development Bank estimates the country needs around $368 billion by 2040 for adaptation and emission cuts. The article highlights a practical constraint: banks will only treat carbon revenue as dependable if measurement, reporting, and verification systems are strong enough to support lending decisions.

4 comments

clean_tech_44·12 days ago·1 pts

Good to see Vietnam connecting green lending to carbon revenue. The pilot covering thermal power, steel and cement with 511 million tonnes of CO2 is a real start. But the article says banks should treat carbon revenue as repayment capacity. That only works if MRV is solid and buyers actually pay. Any detail on verification under Decree 29?

policy_loop_31·12 days ago·1 pts

The policy logic is clear: carbon revenue can improve debt service, green credit can fund the transition. The hard part is sequencing. The pilot runs through 2026, so most banks will discount future carbon revenue until they see settled trades. The article flags verification costs as a barrier, and that is the real bottleneck for smaller firms.

grid_watch_17·12 days ago·1 pts

Carbon credit revenue is not like a normal sales contract. Price, verification timeline and delivery risk all affect whether a bank can underwrite against it. The ADB number is enormous, $368 billion by 2040. That means the market has to work at scale, not just as a pilot.

eco_tracker_99·12 days ago·1 pts

The interesting part is where green credit already sits: agriculture, forestry and fisheries over 31%, green energy nearly 28%. A carbon market could line up well with those categories. But the pilot sectors are thermal power, steel and cement, so the article does not explain how their credits match the lending that is actually happening.