Launching the first carbon credit trading platform in Vietnam

Stay ahead of the trend

The ASEAN Carbon Credit Trading Platform (CCTPA) is invested by CT Group. Having a carbon credit trading platform will help businesses proactively adapt to international environmental trade policies, while moving towards a low-carbon economy with outstanding growth rates.

From October 2023, the 27 European Union member states will begin piloting a carbon tax on all goods exported to this market under the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). The United States will be the next market to enact a mechanism to impose a carbon tax on importers to the United States in 2024.

In the future, more countries and large markets in the Americas and Asia will approach this direction. This is a common global trend that Vietnamese businesses need to adapt to quickly and effectively to meet green standards and increase competitiveness in the long term.

Mr. Nguyen Vo Truong An, Deputy General Director of the ASEAN Carbon Credit Exchange, said that the carbon market is considered an effective and feasible tool to reduce environmental impacts, towards sustainable development and in line with international standards. However, currently, carbon credit projects in Vietnam are quite new and have not received much attention from businesses.

“Our country needs a consulting unit to guide the process of verifying and registering carbon credits. Recognizing the importance of this market, the ASEAN Carbon Credit Exchange has become the first unit in Vietnam to provide complete consulting information to individuals, businesses and organizations,” said Mr. An.

According to Mr. An, the ASEAN carbon credit trading platform will support units in building carbon credit projects, registering, verifying, certifying, and providing mechanisms for exchanging, compensating, and borrowing credit for carbon credits and applying carbon taxes regionally and globally.

According to Mr. An, CCTPA also researches and proposes solutions to apply Blockchain and Crypto to the carbon market, helping transactions to be authenticated, secure and transparent, increasing trust among participants. This is also an optimal solution and a very different direction.

Scientists specializing in carbon credits say that establishing a carbon credit trading floor is an important direction for Vietnam to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

Mr. Tang The Cuong, Director of the Department of Climate Change, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, said that “Net zero” that Vietnam committed to at the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) in 2021 is a very ambitious and challenging target. Building a carbon market is the key.

“The establishment of a carbon market will contribute to the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions as well as reducing costs for businesses and society, and promoting the development of low-emission technology,” Mr. Cuong shared.

According to Mr. Cuong, over the years, CT Group has always been recognized as a typical enterprise in implementing many economic development strategies while joining hands to solve global environmental challenges. The enterprise has been implementing "12 Programs to support Vietnam in responding to climate change". Among them are many scientific studies that help save millions of tons of CO2.

The launch of the carbon trading floor will contribute to protecting the living environment, bringing benefits to people, enhancing business value for participating enterprises, towards a green economy and sustainable development.

Experience from Shanghai – China

At the Ho Chi Minh City Economic Forum 2023, Ms. Ton Minh, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai People's Congress, said that despite rapid development, Shanghai is still a green, low-carbon and environmentally friendly city.

Green and low-carbon transformation is of great significance to mitigating global warming, ensuring energy security and realizing sustainable development of Shanghai. Green development is also a top priority for the Chinese government.

“Shanghai is a megacity with more than 24 million people. The city has chosen to pursue green and low-carbon growth in the long term. Shanghai has a rapid economic growth rate with low energy consumption and very low carbon emissions,” said Ms. Sun Ming.

Ms. Ton Minh shared that Shanghai's average economic growth rate since 2010 has always remained at 6.7%/year, while energy consumption has only increased by 1.2%/year.

In recent years, the Shanghai government has planted more trees, provided cleaner water for city residents, and actively improved the quality of life for residents.

The city has 670 parks and 1,600 km of green trails. The areas along the Huangpu River and Suzhou Creek are being fully exploited to create more public spaces for residents. Over the past 10 years, Shanghai's average annual PM2.5 concentration has dropped from 62 micrograms per cubic meter to 25 micrograms per cubic meter.

Ms. Sun Ming said that Shanghai has always engaged stakeholders to move towards green actions. In July 2021, China's National Emissions Trading Scheme (ESETS) began trading in Shanghai, generating cumulative revenue of more than 240 million tons of carbon credits (240 million tons of CO2).

“We have established a multi-tiered green finance system to attract more capital to green industries. We also held the first Shanghai International Carbon Neutrality Expo to link and facilitate cooperation between supply and demand parties in carbon trading,” said Ms. Sun Ming.

According to Shanghai City representative, the green transformation in this city is mainly in the fields of energy, industry, environment, transportation and global society. Shanghai strives to build a modern energy system, in which the new power system will be cleaner, safer, more efficient but have lower carbon emissions.