The State Bank of Vietnam hosted a policy roundtable on accelerating the banking sector’s action plan for implementing Vietnam’s National Green Growth Strategy 2021–2030 with a vision to 2050, and published a handbook on an Environmental and Social Risk Management System for credit activities prepared with the International Finance Corporation. The package is positioned as practical guidance for credit institutions to build loan-level processes that integrate environmental and social risk management and support the scaling of green credit. The update included a stocktake of implementation results and constraints. As of March 2025, 58 credit institutions had green loan balances, up from 15 in 2017, and average green credit growth in 2017–2024 exceeded 21% per year; 57 credit institutions were conducting environmental and social risk assessments across outstanding loans of VND 3,620,000 billion, more than 15 times the 2017 level. Remaining frictions highlighted included uneven adoption across institutions, reporting gaps, the absence of a legal framework for a green taxonomy, limited risk appraisal tools, long payback periods and uncertain financial returns for green projects, constraints in mobilising resources including international green finance, and rising skills and governance requirements to assess and monitor climate, environmental and social risks. The roundtable was organised with GIZ and IFC under a German government-funded programme and within the SBV–IFC cooperation framework for 2022–2026, and was framed as input to a 2025 milestone review of the first five years of green growth strategy implementation (2021–2025) to inform refinements to the banking sector’s direction and measures.
State Bank of Vietnam 2025-05-21
State Bank of Vietnam launches environmental and social risk management handbook to support green credit implementation
The State Bank of Vietnam held a policy roundtable to advance the banking sector's action plan for Vietnam's National Green Growth Strategy 2021–2030 and released a handbook on Environmental and Social Risk Management for credit activities, developed with the International Finance Corporation. As of March 2025, 58 credit institutions had green loan balances, with average green credit growth exceeding 21% annually from 2017 to 2024. Challenges include uneven adoption, reporting gaps, lack of a legal framework for a green taxonomy, and constraints in mobilizing resources and assessing risks.