Speaking at the Energy and Environment Forum on the morning of 8 July, Vice Prime Minister Nguyen Van Thang emphasized that businesses across all economic sectors are crucial to the success or failure of Vietnam's net zero emissions roadmap.

The Vice Prime Minister highlighted the domestic carbon exchange, which began pilot operations in late June. He urged the business community to review technology, ensure environmental data transparency, and proactively engage with the carbon market. Long-term, businesses must lead in developing emission reduction roadmaps and integrating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria into their business strategies.

"The business community needs to recognize that green transition and ESG management are survival strategies and opportunities to enhance competitiveness," the Vice Prime Minister stated. He added that the government will continue to operate and refine the domestic carbon exchange to create transparent and effective carbon pricing mechanisms.

Vice Prime Minister Nguyen Van Thang at the event. Photo: Quoc Tuan

Late last month, Vietnam's carbon exchange recorded its initial transactions, with a closing price of 130,000 Vietnamese dong per ton of CO2. With an allocated quota exceeding 511 million tons of CO2, experts estimate the total market capitalization at 66,500 billion Vietnamese dong.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Le Cong Thanh affirmed that developing a carbon exchange is a major direction in Vietnam's net zero roadmap. The exchange serves as a supporting tool for emission reduction goals, enabling businesses to actively participate in carbon credit trading and offsetting mechanisms, and access green financial resources in the future.

Mr. Thanh stated that the Ministry is committed to proactively removing policy barriers, improving implementation capacity, and optimizing processes to facilitate business participation.

Energy transition is central to the emission reduction roadmap, as the energy sector is projected to account for 73% of the nation's total emissions under a business-as-usual scenario. The energy sector faces dual goals of emission reduction and national energy security, especially as Vietnam targets an average GDP growth of 10% annually for the 2026-2030 period.

Vice Prime Minister Nguyen Van Thang affirmed that the energy transition must follow an appropriate roadmap, avoiding the "abrupt elimination of traditional energy sources," such as coal power.

According to him, the use of coal power should focus on improving efficiency and adopting new technologies to tightly control emissions, gradually reducing its proportion in the power structure. He reiterated the government's steadfast principle of not trading environment for growth. The Vice Prime Minister called on international organizations and developed nations to provide more practical support to Vietnam to realize its emission reduction targets as planned.

Thuy Truong