(Dân trí) – According to an expert, today’s carbon data challenges bear striking similarities to the issue of waste sorting at source, with three common gaps found in emissions accounting.
On 29 June, Vietnam’s domestic carbon exchange officially commenced operations on the stock market infrastructure, marking a major turning point for both the capital market and environmental policy. For the first time, greenhouse gas emission allowances and carbon credits have become commodities that can be transparently priced and traded.
Data from the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) show that VN2025 allowances, representing a total volume of 511,473,846 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO₂e), have been allocated to 110 facilities in three key sectors—thermal power, iron and steel, and cement—for the 2025–2026 compliance period.
This event brings to an end the era in which emissions were merely symbolic indicators included in year-end environmental, social and governance (ESG) reports. However, as the market moves from preparation to actual trading, a major obstacle has quickly emerged: do businesses have sufficiently reliable data to participate?
The carbon exchange is now operational, but emissions data are the “entry ticket” businesses need to participate in the market (Photo: ETSN).
When Emissions Become Assets Amid Dual Market Pressures
Under Prime Ministerial Decision No. 42/2026, which takes effect on 25 September this year, the list of facilities required to conduct greenhouse gas inventories has expanded to 2,411 businesses—275 more than in the 2024 list.
For these businesses, allocated emission allowances represent the “right to emit” a specified quantity of greenhouse gases. If their emissions exceed their allowances, they must purchase additional allowances on the exchange. Conversely, if they control their emissions effectively and have surplus allowances, they can sell them to generate actual revenue.
In addition to domestic compliance pressure following the issuance of Government Decree No. 29/2026, the global transition towards greener trade is also exerting direct pressure. The European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) has entered its definitive phase for six product groups: cement, aluminium, fertilisers, iron and steel, hydrogen, and electricity.
Notably, on 14 August, the European Commission published 10 new guidance documents to help non-EU producers calculate embedded emissions. This means that even Vietnamese businesses not yet directly participating in the domestic carbon market must still maintain accurate emissions datasets if they wish to avoid disrupted orders or substantial carbon-related costs when exporting to Europe.
At the Vietnam Carbon Forum 2026, held on 14 August, representatives of regulatory authorities emphasised that operating a carbon market requires extremely high levels of transparency, efficiency, and accountability. Measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) systems, together with the necessary technical infrastructure, are essential components that are continuing to be developed.
Clearly, a greenhouse gas inventory is not simply a matter of adding up electricity consumption or tonnes of coal and multiplying the result by an emission factor. It is a technical process requiring consistency, traceability, and independent verification at every stage of operation.
When carbon becomes a tradable asset, emissions data can no longer be compiled only at the end of the year (Photo: Getty).
The Data Bottleneck: Lessons from Waste Sorting at Source
Speaking to Dân trí about the level of business readiness, Dr Bùi Thị Thanh Hương—an environmental education and communication expert from the Department of Climate Change and Sustainability Science at the VNU School of Interdisciplinary Sciences and Arts—said that today’s carbon data challenges bear striking similarities to the issue of waste sorting at source.
According to Dr Hương, during an awareness-raising campaign, everyone agrees that reducing emissions or sorting waste is beneficial. However, once implementation begins—when waste is collected separately and fees are charged by weight, or when emissions become directly linked to money—these commitments must be translated into specific, measurable actions at every point where waste or emissions are generated.
Drawing on many years of working with businesses, she said that the greatest weakness of domestic companies does not lie in measurement technology or calculation software, which can readily be purchased or outsourced. Instead, it lies in people and the discipline required to collect raw data properly from the outset.
She identified three common gaps in emissions accounting at factories.
The first is a lack of consistency at the facility level. Different workshops and production shifts use different data-recording methods, with no standardised templates. When the company’s data are eventually consolidated, the figures do not align, yet no department can explain the underlying cause.
The second is a box-ticking approach to compliance. Employees working directly on production lines are not trained to understand why each stream of fuel or raw-material consumption must be measured separately. Without a proper understanding of the underlying purpose, records are often completed carelessly, leaving the resulting documentation unable to withstand independent verification.
The third is a lack of original supporting documents. Final reports may present polished aggregate figures, but when auditors or international partners request the original records to trace the source of the data, businesses are often unable to provide them.
“Before discussing complex calculation methods, businesses must address the root issue of behaviour,” she emphasised.
Carbon Data Can Become a Business Advantage
Once data are standardised, greenhouse gas accounting will no longer be merely a costly compliance burden. Instead, it can become a “mirror” that accurately reflects a company’s operational efficiency.
Dr Bùi Thị Thanh Hương explained that, in waste management, companies sort waste effectively not simply because they are required to do so, but because they recognise that waste streams represent wasted materials and costs. Only when management can see the specific volume of waste generated does it have sufficient motivation to improve production lines.
The same logic applies to carbon data. Once businesses can identify which production stages consume the most energy, they know precisely where waste must be reduced.
In addition to the allowance obligations imposed on the 2,411 designated facilities, other businesses can proactively create carbon assets in the form of carbon credits. The expert noted that carbon credits do not originate solely from afforestation projects or large-scale renewable energy developments. They can also be generated through circular-economy models, technological process improvements, reduced waste disposal in landfills, or the use of production by-products, provided that the resulting emission reductions are measured and verified in accordance with recognised standards.
A reliable emissions figure must begin with data recorded correctly at the point where the emissions are generated (Photo: Adobe Stock).
As export markets establish increasingly stringent technical barriers and Vietnam’s domestic carbon exchange continues to expand, the capacity to manage emissions data will become a decisive passport determining the position of Vietnamese businesses.
According to Dr Bùi Thị Thanh Hương, this is also the time for businesses to change how they perceive emissions accounting:
“Do not regard an emissions inventory merely as a report that must be submitted. Regard it as a mirror reflecting operational efficiency.”
Three Core Data Categories
To gradually gain control over their data and turn greenhouse gas accounting into a competitive advantage, Dr Hương recommends that businesses begin by establishing three core categories of data:
Energy and raw-material consumption data for each production stage: These figures represent both emissions data and direct production-cost data. Connecting the finance department with the environmental team so that these two sets of indicators can be cross-checked will help businesses promptly identify bottlenecks that cause financial losses.
Waste-flow and material-recirculation data: Sorting waste at source helps reduce methane emissions from landfills while providing specific, quantitative figures that are highly reliable and relatively straightforward to verify when working with international organisations.
Data concerning employee awareness and procedures: Training workers and technicians to record accurate data directly on the production floor is the least costly solution, yet it is also critical to the viability of the entire data system.
The Vietnam ESG Forum is an annual event initiated and organised by Dân trí since 2024. Its highlights include a series of conferences, panel discussions, company tours, and the Vietnam ESG Awards ceremony, which honours organisations with outstanding ESG implementation.
The theme of the Vietnam ESG Forum 2026 is “Seizing Opportunities – Leading Growth.” This theme was selected in a context in which environmental, social and governance standards are increasingly becoming key determinants of business competitiveness.
This year’s forum focuses not only on the urgency of taking early action but also on the pioneering role of businesses and organisations in transforming challenges into drivers of sustainable growth.