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Tim Evans, CEO of HSBC Vietnam The World Bank believes Vietnam is among the top five countries likely to be affected and estimates that climate change will reduce its national income by up to 3.5 per cent by 2050. Moreover, Vietnam is one of the most carbon-intensive economies in Asia, and it needs to undertake a rapid transition out of high-carbon activities. As the country pursues this ambitious path, its finance sector will have to play a significant role with a wide range of innovative financial solutions. The demand for green, social, and sustainability bonds continues to hit record oversubscriptions, confirming that both issuers and investors remain keenly focused on green finance. According to Moody’s, global issuance is expected to reach another new record of $650 billion in 2021, a 32 per cent increase over last year. In Vietnam, the government has put in place several robust responses and measures, which includes promoting green growth as a key focus in the … [Read more...] about Sustainable finance instruments to grow a greener future

An Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report states that the Paris Agreement’s goal to limit global warming well below 2oC will fail unless greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reach net zero by 2050. What can governments do to limit global warming? British Ambassador to Vietnam Gareth Ward Despite the challenges of the ongoing pandemic, countries around the world have submitted 85 new commitments for carbon emissions reductions. Some of these have introduced more ambitious targets for 2030. We are making progress, but we still need much more, especially from countries with high emissions. In the run-up to COP26, we hope to see those countries that have not yet done so announcing ambitious emissions reduction targets and long-term strategies to net zero by the middle of the century. The 2020s are the decisive decade to get the world on track to halt temperature increases. Therefore, governments around the globe must make the big policy decisions required, … [Read more...] about UK pledges support on Vietnam’s path to reaching net zero on time

Most scientists agree that the world has only until the end of this decade to take action and prevent a global catastrophe, Photo: shutterstock The world’s activists and delegates getting ready to travel to Scotland for the COP26 event, starting October 31, realise more than most of the exceptionally high stakes. Running until November 12, the conference is being deemed one of the world’s last chances to keep the average global temperature from rising less than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and thus averting planetary heating on an unknown scale. It has been a trying time for UK leaders as the event approaches. In terms of the summit itself, companies that stumped up millions of US dollars to sponsor COP26 have condemned it as “mismanaged” and “very last minute”. The sponsors, which include some of Britain’s biggest companies, have raised formal complaints of “very inexperienced” civil servants for delayed decisions, as well as poor communication between the … [Read more...] about Civilisation at stake in most important climate talks yet