The State Bank of Vietnam published a recap of a roundtable on “Practicing sustainability reporting in the banking sector with AI solutions”, featuring a presentation by ACCA Policy and Insights Director Mike Suffield on integrating artificial intelligence into sustainability reporting processes in financial services. The session positioned AI as increasingly embedded across sustainability information production, while underscoring governance, assurance and the technology’s own environmental footprint. Suffield outlined how different AI approaches are already used in finance, from machine learning for predictive analytics and fraud detection, to computer vision for automated document processing and natural language processing for report analysis and customer support, with newer generative and agentic AI offering further automation potential but not fully replacing established tools. He described ACCA’s eight-stage model for producing sustainability reporting information and where AI can support steps such as interpreting reporting requirements, climate-risk scenario analysis using satellite and external datasets, and tailoring reporting outputs for different audiences, while noting many organisations lack the data flows, standards and infrastructure needed to deploy AI effectively. The presentation also warned of risks from unchecked reliance on generative AI and insufficient assurance over how models operate and are controlled, and highlighted the resource intensity of AI, citing estimates that a ChatGPT-style query uses about 10 times the electricity of a standard Google search and forecasts that global data-centre electricity consumption could rise by 160% by 2030, reaching 3–4% of global power demand, alongside significant water use for cooling.
State Bank of Vietnam 2025-05-21
State Bank of Vietnam hosts roundtable on AI-enabled sustainability reporting for banks
The State Bank of Vietnam hosted a roundtable on sustainability reporting in banking, emphasizing AI's role in enhancing reporting processes. ACCA's Mike Suffield highlighted AI's integration in finance, including machine learning and natural language processing, while cautioning about generative AI risks and resource intensity. He noted the need for robust data flows and infrastructure to effectively deploy AI in sustainability reporting.