Panelists discuss green finance for sustainable development in Việt Nam at a forum held on July 29 in HCM City. VNA/VNS Photo Xuân Anh

HCM CITY — Việt Nam will need to develop capital markets to achieve its sustainable development goals, panelists said at a forum on green economy development held on July 29 in HCM City.

Cấn Văn Lực, a member of the National Fiscal and Monetary Policy Advisory Council, said green and circular economies had become an inevitable trend worldwide to meet the requirements of sustainable development.

Việt Nam is one of the five countries most likely to be affected by climate change and it is estimated that climate change will cost Việt Nam 11 per cent of GDP by 2100.

A transition to green growth would help businesses improve their competitiveness and attraction to foreign investors, Lực said.

The Prime Minister approved the National Strategy on Green Growth for the 2021-2030 period and vision to 2050.

Green agriculture, sustainable urban development, a transition to clean energy, the application of circular economy models and the sustainable development of the marine economy will be given the most attention in the transition to green growth.

The farming and agriculture sector is one of the industries that needs high-tech adoption to fuel the green transition, according to Lực.

According to UN Habitat, cities consume 78 per cent of the world’s energy and produce more than 60 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions.

The economies of the 28 coastal cities and provinces are estimated to account for 65-70 per cent of GDP by 2030.

Green finance is vital to provide financing support to the green energy environment and sustainable development.

However, the scale of green finance remains modest despite its presence in Việt Nam for ten years, according to Lực.

Green growth strategies and green finance need to be integrated into national socio-economy development strategies.

Assoc. Prof. Phạm Tiến Đạt, rector of the University of Finance and Marketing, said Việt Nam had an orientation toward green finance to create financial resources for green growth under the National Strategy for Green Growth.

Appropriate policies and regulations would help facilitate access to finance for green projects, Đạt said.

The country would need to develop capital markets to promote green growth and sustainable development, he said. —VNS