BPP Partnership Impact Series: Enabling nature-based carbon projects in Vietnam
Since its launch, the Business Partnerships Platform (BPP) has worked with ambitious partners to deliver meaningful, lasting change in communities across the world. The BPP Partnership Impact Series celebrates the outcomes and lessons from our partnerships, highlighting their contributions to inclusive economic growth, resilience and sustainable development.
Our Carbon Markets partnerships in Vietnam were launched to promote the growth of sustainable carbon markets that deliver significant social and environmental benefits to communities in Vietnam. This partnership, which concluded early this year, built local capacity, mapped high-value opportunities and developed pilot projects that lay the groundwork for future investment in nature-based solutions.
Kickstarting nature-based carbon projects in Vietnam
Vietnam’s forests and landscapes hold enormous potential to capture carbon, restore ecosystems and support communities. Yet, until recently, few nature-based solutions (NbS) projects in the country had advanced far enough to access carbon markets.
Through the BPP, a partnership between NatureCo, the Centre for Nature Conservation and Development (CCD), One Tree Planted, Amplitude Energy, and the Australian Government set out to change that. Their goal was to build local capacity, identify opportunities and design projects that could attract investment once Vietnam’s carbon policies provided a clear framework.
Between 2022 and early 2025, the partnership mapped nationwide opportunities, trained seven Vietnamese organisations (including 29 practitioners, nearly half of whom were women), and developed six project concepts alongside a pilot reforestation project in Dakrong Nature Reserve. By aligning with international standards, it created a credible pathway for high-integrity NbS projects in Vietnam, ensuring local organisations and communities are ready to move quickly as approvals and market rules take shape. The team also created communication materials to explain complex ideas like carbon credits in plain language. Tested with communities in Central Vietnam, these toolkits are helping Indigenous peoples and local households understand their rights, responsibilities and potential benefits. Together, these efforts have strengthened capacity and positioned Vietnam to scale NbS once rules and approvals are finalised.
About the partnership
Launched in 2022, the partnership set out to build the foundations for high-quality nature-based carbon projects in Vietnam. Backed by the Australian Government, it brought together local and international partners to link climate finance with practical action, while creating the conditions for private sector investment.
The partnership combined four streams of work:
- Scoping and opportunity identification: Mapped the potential for NbS projects, pinpointing priority areas and assessing feasibility across environmental, social and economic factors.
- Capacity building for local organisations: Strengthened project development skills through training in carbon accounting, monitoring, reporting and stakeholder engagement.
- Pilot project development: Designed a reforestation pilot in Dakrong Nature Reserve to test methodologies, align with international standards and demonstrate pathways for future investment.
- Community engagement and socialisation: Developed communication materials in plain language to help Indigenous peoples and local communities understand rights, responsibilities and benefits, with templates adaptable to other contexts.
Together, these streams provide a practical blueprint for how Vietnam can connect climate finance with on-ground action, ensuring benefits for communities, ecosystems and investors.
Highlights
During the BPP partnership period, highlights included:
- Mapping opportunities nationwide: Identified priority regions across Vietnam with high potential for nature-based carbon projects, providing the evidence base for future investment.
- Building carbon skills: Strengthened the capacity of seven Vietnamese organisations and 29 practitioners (45% women) in carbon accounting, monitoring, reporting and stakeholder engagement.
- Developing new projects: Co-designed six nature-based carbon concepts tailored to local ecological and social contexts, aligned with international standards.
- Piloting reforestation: Developed a 700-hectare reforestation model in Dakrong Nature Reserve, Quang Tri Province, which is now progressing toward certification under the Ecosystem Restoration Standard (ERS).
- Engaging communities: Produced and tested communication materials with local groups in Central Vietnam, supporting local Indigenous communities and households to understand their rights, responsibilities and benefits of NbS.
- Mobilising private sector involvement: Brought in support from Amplitude Energy and One Tree Planted to connect corporate partners with future high-integrity NbS opportunities.
View the full partnership impact story below or download here.
