Training opens for green bond verifiers in Vietnam

Under the guidance of the Ministry of Finance, Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), in partnership with Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI), recently organized the first specialized training program for potential verifiers and key third-party assurance providers in Vietnam’s green bond ecosystem.

Focusing on the role of external reviewers in the green bond process, the first virtual training event: "Deep Dive in Verification and Certification of Green Bonds" had an attendance of over 30 representatives from major credit rating agencies, auditing firms, and specialized verification agencies like FiinGroup, GreenID, DNV, E&Y, KPMG, PwC, Grant Thornton, and Saigon Phatthinh.

The training program was developed within the framework of the Vietnam Green Bond Readiness Program - a collaboration initiative between GGGI, the Vietnam Ministry of Finance and the Government of Luxembourg.

In the opening remarks, Nguyen Hoang Duong, deputy director general, Banking and Financial Institutions Department, Ministry of Finance, stated: "One of the ministry’s key objectives in promoting the green bond market in Vietnam is to enhance the capacity of third-party verifiers."

Duong reconfirmed the Ministry’s commitment in developing the green finance sector, including green bond market, to support the implementation of Vietnam’s National Green Growth Strategy. To facilitate this strategic task, the ministry’s focuses are "creating a legal framework, promoting cooperation in green finance, and encouraging the issuance of green bonds."

In this context, he commented that the implementation of the Green Bonds Readiness Program, facilitated by the Ministry of Finance and GGGI, helps lay the foundation for the development of green financial markets and encouraging green and sustainable growth of the economy.

A training program organized by GGGI and CBI under the guidance of the Ministry of Finance. Photo by GGGI Vietnam.

Hanh Le, the then country representative of GGGI in Vietnam, highlighted the role of independent verifiers in ensuring the green integrity of projects that in turn would increase the confidence of investors. She reiterated the need for such training programs to address the gap in market capacity to offer such services in Vietnam.

Deep dive in verification of green bonds

The training program shed light on the overview of green bond market dynamics and its intricacies.

The insightful sessions presented a thorough understanding of the green bond framework, key global green bond labelling schemes, and the role of verifiers in the green bond issuance process. In the training, some methodologies of verification in the Southeast Asia market were analyzed and illustrated with real case examples. Guest speakers also shared their views and experiences in actual green bond assessment processes.

The event gathered 30 representatives from major credit rating agencies, auditing firms, and specialized verification agencies. Photo by GGGI.

The program put an emphasis on the crucial role of verification in increasing transparency of the issuance process, enhancing the issuer’s accountability and providing reliability to investors when financing green projects and assets. Verification is one of the most important steps in green and other thematic-labelled bond issuances.

GGGI was established as an international intergovernmental organization in 2012 at the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. Its vision is "a low-carbon, resilient world of strong, inclusive, and sustainable growth" and its mission "to support Members in the transformation of their economies into a green growth economic model".

GGGI does this through technical assistance to: reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris Agreement; create green jobs; increase access to sustainable services (such as clean affordable energy, sustainable waste management); improve air quality; sustain natural capital for adequate supply of ecosystem services; and enhance adaptation to climate change.

Website: https://gggi.org/