Vietnam climate action: Our roles in building a sustainable business

Vietnam climate action: Our roles in building a sustainable business

This event was co-organised by the UK Department for International Trade, Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange, Dragon Capital Group, and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) with support from the UK-ASEAN Business Council (UKABC). The event has attracted participation of over 200 representatives from regulators, listed companies, relevant international and local organisations, members of BritCham Vietnam, ACCA members, and other partners.

A recent global research by ACCA among 3,000 accountants and finance professionals reveals that just 15 per cent say their organisations have set targets to be net-zero compliant by 2050, and only 38 per cent say their organisations will be willing to invest much more than today in addressing climate change over the next three to five years. The key findings from ACCA’s report “Climate action and the accountancy profession: building a sustainable future” have shown the gap between the good intentions of organisations, and the urgent and speedy need for climate action.

The climate agenda will redefine the world of business over the coming decades and meeting the climate action is a long-term process. There is a critical need for leaders, whether in governments, the private or public sectors, to grasp the scale of this challenge and to respond to it. The accountancy profession has a critical role to play in this by bringing an integrated approach that places sustainability at the heart of organisational decision-making, rather than it being an additional consideration. This approach links strategy and governance to data-driven decision making and rigorous measurement of performance using science-based targets, coherent reporting, and trustworthy assurance of information used by stakeholders.

“I am pleased that more and more international companies are prioritising the green agenda in their business models, through high ESG standards, as well as robust and transparent climate reporting. Whilst much progress has been made on climate action, there is of course more to be done and together. We as the UK continue to stand ready to offer our support to Vietnam, through policy dialogue, expertise, and finance,” stated Gareth Ward, British Ambassador in Vietnam.

Le Cong Dien, director of the Public Companies Supervision Department at State Securities Commission, highly appreciated the efforts of the webinar co-organisers and supporting partners: “Such an event would bring many benefits for businesses in Vietnam where they could find practical ideas and meaningful lessons for their next plan of sustainable development. More importantly, it makes a contribution to supporting businesses in the market to heighten the standards of sustainability to solve climate issues faster.”

As the leading international professional body, ACCA has launched an online Sustainability Hub in 2021 that provides finance professionals around the world with access to highly relevant resources and knowledge, which enables them to rise to this global challenge.

“We are also glad that the Sustainability Reporting Awards (SRA) led by ACCA for the last nine years as part of the annual Vietnam Listed Company Reporting Awards has brought about positive changes in how listed companies build and implement sustainability strategy. This helps businesses to improve their accountancy capabilities both to lead long-term value creation within sustainable economies and to champion responsible practices in the public interest,” added Ren Varma, portfolio head of ACCA Mainland Southeast Asia.

ACCA also revealed that with sponsorship from Dragon Capital, they would provide 20 scholarships of ACCA Certificate of Sustainability to key staff of the State Securities Commission, Stock Exchange of Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange, Hanoi Stock Exchange, selected listed companies, research institutes, and media outlets.

“We are committed to Vietnam for the long-term; therefore, the long-term interests of the country are the same as ours. We believe that climate change, greenhouse gas emission and biodiversity loss are interrelated and inseparable threats to businesses and communities. We are therefore evolving our capabilities to ensure that we meet our obligations of addressing this global challenge through our role as an active long-term investor,” emphasised Dominic Scriven, chairman of Dragon Capital.