Juhern Kim

Vietnam this year ushers in Binh Ngo, the Fire Horse year, where fire’s thrust meets the horse’s speed. It is a perfect metaphor for Vietnam’s next chapter in the net-zero transition: momentum is real, and the window for acceleration is open.

But the defining question has changed. It is no longer whether Vietnam can move fast. It is whether Vietnam can move fast – and be trusted as a serious net-zero platform as an emerging market leader. In a world of tightening supply-chain standards, rising disclosure expectations, and increasingly sophisticated investors, green competitiveness has become a package deal: speed plus proof.

That is why 2026 matters beyond symbolism. It marks the starting line of the decisive stretch to 2030, the world’s most important checkpoint on the climate clock. What happens between 2026 and 2030 will shape whether net-zero commitments become bankable reality, or remain well-worded ambition.

In December at Techfest, I learned something from the vice chairperson of the Hanoi People’s Committee – the Phu Dong spirit. In the Vietnamese legend, Phu Dong suddenly scales, growing strong enough to ride an iron horse and clear a path forward. I was impressed by the metaphor.

I believe Vietnam can leverage this moment to rapidly scale in a way that opens an entirely new net-zero journey.

Yet sudden leaps are never effortless. The iron horse must be strong enough to withstand a rough, fast-moving environment. In today’s net-zero landscape, that strength is built through discipline, verification, accountability, and trust. But, I cannot deny the fact that it is truly an exciting moment. There are five “proof points” I would highlight.

Building the net-zero system

Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are boldly preparing to test something that goes to the heart of how Vietnam moves: electrifying two-wheelers. With more than 77 million registered motorcycles, decarbonising this segment is a national game changer. There are already encouraging signs: about 209,000 electric motorbikes were sold in the first half of 2025, nearly doubling on-year.

Now the system must catch up – interoperable charging and/or swapping, clearer standards, and a user experience that changes consumer mindset from trial to default.

Meanwhile, Vietnam is building the infrastructure of a carbon market. In June 2025, the country announced the pilot phase of its emissions trading scheme, targeting thermal power, steel, and cement, with the initial phase set to run until 2029 and cover about half of national emissions.

This is where speed with trust becomes tangible. Markets do not run on slogans; they run on measurement, reporting, and verification protocols, registries, transparent allocation, and enforcement. If Vietnam can demonstrate predictable operations and high-integrity credits, it can turn compliance pressure into investment pull – including stronger pathways for Article 6 cooperation with international partners.

The next factor involves turning green finance from product into plumbing. A quiet breakthrough was the promulgation of Vietnam’s Green Taxonomy in 2025. This matters because taxonomy is not a label – it is trust infrastructure: eligibility criteria, verification pathways, and comparability that investors can underwrite. It reduces ambiguity, lowers transaction costs, and makes green finance repeatable rather than bespoke.

Vietnam has also advanced its international financial centre agenda, positioning Danang and Ho Chi Minh City as twin hubs. As these functions come live, they can become a practical platform to mobilise capital if the surrounding ecosystem is built with credibility and predictability.

Another proof point is about risk capital, and whether Vietnam can scale climate-tech fast enough to match the decade’s urgency. Last year, the government issued a framework for a national venture capital fund that includes at least VND500 billion ($19 million) in initial state capital and an expected charter capital of VND2 trillion ($76 million) within five years, alongside private contributions.

This is relevant for net-zero because climate solutions often face a valley of death between pilot and scale. A venture fund, if governed well, can help push bankable technologies across that bridge, while setting norms for transparency, accountability, and disciplined selection.

Lastly, overlaid on the climate timeline is a broader technological transition. AI and digital tools are compressing learning cycles, lowering the cost of experimentation, and accelerating collaboration across borders. In the framing of Song Gil-young, a South Korean futurist, a “lightweight civilisation” advances less by piling on heavy infrastructure first, and more by making systems smarter – reducing friction, duplicative work, and wasted energy through data and networks.

That lens matters for climate action: fast emissions reductions come not only from bigger assets, but from lighter, faster coordination – better measurement, better decisions, better execution. But AI only accelerates what systems allow. When markets can trust underlying data, technology becomes a genuine net-zero force multiplier.

From delivery to scale

These agendas all connect to a broader strategic alignment with the GGGI. In April 2025, GGGI director-general Kim Sang Hyup met with Vietnam’s prime minister at the P4G Summit in Hanoi, reinforcing a shared ambition to facilitate mobilisation of $1 billion by 2028 for Vietnam’s net-zero transition.

In August, he advanced a strategic MoU with the National Innovation Centre in Seoul during the state visit to South Korea by Vietnamese Party General Secretary To Lam, signalling that innovation partnerships are being elevated to strategic importance.

I signed an MoU with the vice minister of Science and Technology in December on the sidelines of Techfest 2025, exploring partnership around the National Venture Capital Fund – linking policy leadership to practical mechanisms that mobilise capital for startups and climate-tech scale.

In 2025, the GGGI delivered in practice to help build foundations that link directly to Vietnam’s 2026 proof points. Firstly, on sustainable finance, it facilitated GSS bond transactions, approximately $76 million, linked to Vietcombank and around $10 million for Binh Thuan Plastic – strengthening the frameworks, reporting expectations, and verification practices that investors require.

Secondly, on climate-tech acceleration and investment mobilisation, we worked with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the European Union to support $1.5 million in mobilised investment for three enterprises, including AI-enabled solutions, with a new startup acceleration programme ready for 2026.

Thirdly, on green infrastructure, we advanced feasibility and structuring support in the waste sector through two projects with ticket sizes of $50 million and $15 million – introducing green technologies that make waste sector green and financeable if design, revenue logic, and risk allocation are built properly.

Fourthly, on policy, we delivered 11 advisory engagements in 2025, including support for carbon market–related regulations.

This year, I am keen to deepen collaboration with partner countries committed to credible net-zero delivery in Vietnam to do more with scale with Phu Dong spirit – including GGGI member countries and close partner countries already working with us on the ground. In parallel, as a trustable fiduciary platform, we aim to deepen collaboration with large conglomerates, philanthropic foundations, corporate philanthropy platforms, and high-net-worth individuals – mobilising flexible capital and innovation networks alongside public finance – to accelerate practical delivery.

It is such a privilege to witness Vietnam’s energy, ambition, and openness to change up close on a daily basis – and to increasingly think of Vietnam not only as a place of work, but as a second home. What I hope most in 2026 is that we can make the net-zero “proof points” tangible – visible in daily life, and credible in the eyes of markets – so that Vietnam’s speed is matched by trust.

If Vietnam succeeds, it becomes a global proof-of-scale case for emerging markets. If it stalls, the world’s net-zero pathway becomes much harder.