Techcombank supports Vietnam's net-zero goal by 2050

Vietnam, one of the world’s fastest-growing economies and the 17th largest emitter of CO2, is making important strides towards its ambitious goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 through a firm commitment to fast and sustainable lower carbon-intensity economic development.

As Vietnam’s most pioneering bank, with a vision to Change banking, Change lives, Techcombank is proud to be a partner to Vietnam’s sustainability transition through a range of green initiatives.

One such initiative is Techcombank’s partnership with Gaia Nature Conservation Center (Gaia), a leading Vietnamese not-for-profit organisation, to plant and manage 31,850 new trees in degraded watershed forests. The new trees are being planted in two of Vietnam's most important nature reserves and will support the government’s plan to plant one billion new trees across the country between 2021 and 2025.

On 7 December 2024, in the first phase of the partnership, Techcombank’s employees helped to plant 11,850 trees on 7.9 hectares of degraded watershed forest in Phong Dien Nature Reserve in Thua Thien Hue province, creating the Techcombank Community Forest. In February 2025, Techcombank will support the planting of a further 20,000 new trees on 20 hectares of degraded watershed forest in the Xuan Lien Nature Reserve located in the west of Thanh Hoa province.

The new trees will help to recover large areas of degraded watershed forest and deliver a range of positive environmental impacts including improving biodiversity by preserving the local habitat for wild animals, regulating water flow into nearby rivers and preventing soil erosion, and contributing to mitigating climate change by absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere.

Specifically, it is estimated that over the next 50 years the Techcombank Community Forest in Phong Dien Nature Reserve will absorb and store around 33,000 tonnes of CO2 and will help to regulate water flow into the Hue River by creating around 3.5 million cubic meters of water.

The locations of the reforestation projects and the species of trees to be planted, which include Erythrophleum fordii, Hopea odorata and Madhuca pasquieri, were carefully selected by Techcombank and Gaia to maximise their environmental benefits. Gaia will manage the newly planted trees for the first four years to ensure their survival and good health and will conduct annual impact assessments to quantify the benefits of the projects to Vietnam’s environment.

Techcombank’s partnership with Gaia is part of the bank’s wider commitment to sustainability, preserving and protecting Vietnam’s environment for future generations. Techcombank is embedding sustainability factors into the heart of its business strategy and day-to-day operations and aims to make a meaningful contribution to achieving the government’s objective for Vietnam to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Prasenjit Chakravarti, Techcombank’s chief strategy and transformation officer, said, "Techcombank is committed to taking a lead on ESG in Vietnam. We are working to embed sustainability into the heart of Techcombank’s business strategy and day-to-day operations to ensure that the bank is helping to protect Vietnam’s environment and deliver real benefits to society. Our new reforestation initiative, in partnership with Gaia Nature Conservation Center, is an important step on the bank’s sustainability journey and one that will make a meaningful contribution to preserving Vietnam’s natural environment and reducing net carbon emissions.”

As a leading bank in Vietnam, there are two main areas where Techcombank is working to deliver positive environmental impact and reducing Vietnam’s carbon emissions.

First, is in the provision of financing for green projects, such as reforestation initiatives and clean energy generation. In 2024 Techcombank provided more green credit than ever before as its funding for green projects reached VND 16.4 trillion ($646.05 million) in the first nine months of the year. Techcombank also recently became the first private bank in Vietnam to introduce a Green Bond Framework and issued a Green bond of VND 450 billion ($17.7 million) with the intent of using proceeds raised from the issuance of Green bonds be used to finance projects that provide real environmental benefits to Vietnam.

Second, Techcombank is introducing policies to be more energy efficient in its own business operations and is supporting its individual and business customers to be more sustainable in the way they live and operate. For example, Techcombank’s digital transformation strategy has significantly improved productivity and helped to minimise the bank’s impact on the environment by reducing energy consumption and waste. Other initiatives include internal seminars and team-building programmes to raise employees’ awareness of their carbon footprint and encourage changes in behaviour to help protect the environment. One notable example was Techcombank’s "Winter Giving" events held in the North, Central and South regions of Vietnam in late November. These events saw more than 9,000 Techcombank employees actively participate in environmental protection initiatives, including the planting of the Techcombank Community Forest.

Techcombank is also taking the lead in helping its customers go green and live more sustainably. In 2024 Techcombank became the first bank in Vietnam to launch a Visa EcoCard. The Techcombank Visa EcoCard enables retail customers to live greener lifestyles by helping them track their carbon emissions against their spending, easily offset their carbon footprint by supporting green projects in Vietnam, and by providing eco-friendly privileges like subscriptions to an EV taxi company. The Techcombank Visa EcoCard has already been opened by more than 200,000 customers and helped to offset more than 90 tonnes of CO2.

Do Thi Thanh Huyen, founder and director of Gaia Nature Conservation, said, "Reducing carbon footprint is a key factor to achieve Vietnam’s net zero 2050 goal. This requires collective efforts from the corporate sector and the public, as well as awareness of each citizen. We appreciate Techcombank's partnership in afforestation projects and raising community awareness in the journey of greening the economy, bringing positive impacts to the environment and society.”

Going forward, Techcombank and Gaia plan to expand their partnership to promote the conversation of Vietnam’s wildlife and nature. A joint campaign called "Contributing a tree to plant a forest" will aim to help restore watershed forests across Vietnam in the Nature Reserves of Xuan Lien, Phong Dien, Ta Kou, Dong Nai and others in the years ahead.

Re-disseminated by  Wealth and Society