Green growth is an irreversible trend
On the morning of April 17, 2025, within the framework of the 4th P4G Summit in Hanoi, a Minister-level Discussion Session was held with the theme "Financial innovation and capital mobilization strategy for global green growth".
In his opening speech, Deputy Minister of Finance Do Thanh Trung affirmed: "Green growth is an irreversible trend, a prerequisite to ensure sustainable development and improve resilience to climate change". He emphasized the role of financial policies in leading the green transformation process, and called for coordination between countries and financial institutions to form a fair, equitable and sustainable financial framework.
At the discussion session, Ms. Rebeca Grynspan - Secretary General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) - emphasized: "It is necessary to reform global financial structure, creating conditions for developing countries to have fair access to green capital". According to her, ensuring financial fairness will help countries not be left behind in the green transformation process.
Representatives of countries such as Cambodia, South Korea, Singapore and the Netherlands highly appreciated the role of regional cooperation and proposed the establishment of a cross-border green financial corridor in Asia. The opinions also focused on promoting public-private cooperation, enhancing experience sharing in green bond issuance, sustainable credit and developing climate finance standards suitable to conditions in the ASEAN region.
Speaking at the discussion session, Mr. Nguyen Van Dung - Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee - said: "The city is pioneering the implementation of special financial policies according to Resolution 98/2023/QH15, promoting green urban bonds and developing green PPP models". According to him, Ho Chi Minh City has issued a Green Growth Plan to 2030 with groups of solutions including: "Completing the legal framework, diversifying capital sources, developing green financial products and expanding international cooperation".
Green credit accounts for a low proportion, the market is not developing commensurately
The green financial market is expected to play an important role in the process of realizing sustainable development goals. However, at the discussion session, many delegates pointed out the barriers that are preventing this capital flow from spreading more strongly, especially in developing countries.
Mr. Thomas Jacobs - IFC Country Director in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos - stated the reality: "Vietnam needs about 368 billion USD to achieve the goal of net zero emissions by 2040. However, green credit currently accounts for less than 5% of total outstanding loans, while the climate bond market is almost not clearly formed.
Mr. Shantanu Chakraborty - ADB National Director in Vietnam - said: "ADB is implementing the Innovation Climate Finance Facility with a scale of up to 36 billion USD per year, the GSS+ Bonds Program has supported the issuance of more than 3.5 billion USD of sustainable green - social - bonds and promoted responsible investment standards in the ASEAN region".
According to the opinions at the conference, to narrow the global green finance gap, there should be flexible solutions to mobilize catalytic finance, while improving the capacity of small and medium enterprises and increasing sustainable financial access on the principle of fairness.
Towards a fair and sustainable financial system
Many international and domestic delegates at the discussion session said that green finance is an inevitable trend in the context of the world facing climate change and the need to switch to a sustainable growth model. On that basis, there are consensus on the need to improve the global financial structure, while enhancing the role of domestic financial institutions.
Some groups of solutions were presented at the discussion session, emphasizing: Completing national and global financial institutions, including green classification framework (taxonomy), ESG standards and transparent supervision mechanisms; Innovation of green financial products such as green bonds, climate insurance, sustainable investment funds; Promoting public-private partnerships in risk sharing and designing appropriate von support policies; and improving the capacity of the financial system and access to green credit for businesses, especially in areas such as water management, smart agriculture and renewable energy.
Concluding the discussion session, Deputy Minister of Finance Do Thanh Trung emphasized: Vietnam is committed to taking substantial actions to promote green growth and is ready to accompany the international community in building a fair and sustainable financial system.
