The integration of social and environment benefit, recovery of biodiversity and reduce effect of climate change in economic development has been a rigid interrogation without fail. Each one of those businesses performing since the last decade of the 21^st century became reconciled to that. Inclusively, banks and financial institutions are dealing with challenges not only from the living environment, civil society organizations, but also from regulators and policies that take their edge off, or from investors and stakeholders who pressure them to clarifying their operation. According to WWF, social unrest and loss of biodiversity, lack of trust from stakeholders and stranded assets are greatest risks that banks and the whole economics have to cope with.

Ms. Anna Batenkova, Director of Sustainable Finance Programme - WWF International delivering ESGs

Sustainable Finance come as the solution, appeared in the National Strategy on Green Growth (2012) and the State Bank’s Directive no.03/CT-NHNN (2015). In the Workshop, our delegates agreed that Vietnamese banks should have considered social and environment factors in their investment, which means their operation should include sponsor for green investment, green public policies and turn themselves into one among green finance system. Consequently, bank system should encourage the environment protection by setting environment standard during loan process, or preferential interest for CO2 reduce projects, or production and uses of clean energy and clean food.

Participants in the discussion section

On the overview of sustainable finance demand of renewable energy (RE) project, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Khanh, Senior Consultant on Renewable Energy from Green ID reported that RE has accounted for 24.5% total electricity on global scale in year 2016, and should increase. Simultaneously, total investment for RE is 241 USD, double those in traditional electricity. In the future, price of RE can compete with its ancestor.

During the past 7 years, fund for RE has surpassed 200 billion USD. In five years continuously, investment in RE is double those in fossil fuel, major in wind and photovoltaic electricity. However, supporting price policies are not enough to attract investors.

Mr. Nguyen Quoc Khanh, Senior Consultant in Sustainable Energy, Green ID on the development of RE in Viet Nam

Recently, the most popular supporting programme for RE in Viet Nam is Green Finance, set up by the State Bank. Total fund for this programme is 2000 billion VND, which interest is 1-3% lower than commercial one. To encourage Green Finance, VBCSD is co-operating with Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and Ministry of Industry and Trade to give strength to the programme through training workshops, and multiply the model among banks and financial institutions. Concurrently, VBCSD would work together with WWF to provide sustenance for Vietnamese banks to build their competence within the environment, social and governance integration.

For summarizing, the Workshop should carry Green Finance programme to banks and connect them with RE projects who are longing for financial resource, therefore, should level up the scale of RE in Viet Nam and strengthen the nation’s economics in general, as well as the banks’ prosperity in particular.