LAUSR

Green finance plays an important role in environmental protection missions and fighting climate change. The Environment Fund in Vietnam is the main channel of preferential capital offered to firms for environmental protection. Unfortunately, it was previously unknown which criteria influenced these companies’ ability to obtain green financing. Using a survey method, we collected data through a structured questionnaire of 203 respondents that represent firms that had received concessional loans from 26 Environment Funds. A Multiple Linear Regression model was used to examine the determinants of access to concessional loans for environmental protection. We found relationships between age, size, ownership type, and industry sector, and access to green finance. Third-party guarantees were a significant factor in financing through Environment Funds. Moreover, we found commercial environmental projects face fewer green financing obstacles. Surprisingly, showing audited financial statements does not mitigate the information asymmetry between firms and these financial institutions. These findings suggest that Environment Funds should classify environmental project types to develop appropriate lending policies. In emerging markets, enterprises need to build a trusted relationship with financial institutions so that they can replace asset-based lending techniques, thereby increasing the firms’ accessibility to green finance.