Completing the Institutional Framework for Green Economic Development in Vietnam in the Context of International Economic Integration

Vietnam’s green transition has entered a more demanding phase. The policy question is no longer whether green growth should be pursued, but whether the country’s institutional architecture can translate international commitments into investable projects, credible carbon data, competitive exports, and locally enforceable rules. This article examines the institutional framework for green economic development in Vietnam in the context of deep international economic integration. It combines a structured review of legislation and policy instruments with descriptive analysis of a ten-year dataset covering 2015–2024. The empirical evidence shows a mixed transition. Real GDP growth averaged 6.15% per year, while electricity generation rose from 161.93 TWh to 303.58 TWh. Solar and wind generation expanded from only 0.13 TWh to 38.61 TWh. Yet coal-fired generation increased from 56.47 TWh to 152.77 TWh, coal’s share of electricity reached 50.32% in 2024, and territorial fossil-fuel and industrial CO? emissions rose from 213.39 Mt to 370.93 Mt. The country has also established important building blocks, including the 2021–2030 Green Growth Strategy, the climate-change strategy to 2050, the carbon-market development scheme, the 2025 green taxonomy, and amendments to the greenhouse-gas regulatory regime. However, the institutional system remains fragmented across planning, finance, energy, trade, environmental data, and subnational implementation. The article argues that the next stage of reform should be organized around five linked tasks: a unified green-transition governance mechanism; interoperable measurement, reporting, and verification infrastructure; taxonomy-aligned finance; electricity-market and grid reforms; and export-oriented support for firms facing carbon and traceability requirements. The proposed 2026–2030 roadmap treats green institutions not as a compliance layer added to the existing growth model, but as core economic infrastructure for sustaining competitiveness under a more carbon-constrained international trading system.