2026 has been widely described as a “landmark year” for corporate environmental information disclosure. With the joint issuance of the Enterprise Sustainability Disclosure Standards No.1 – Climate (Trial) by the Ministry of Finance and eight other ministries, alongside new sustainability disclosure requirements released by the three major stock exchanges, value chain greenhouse gas (GHG) disclosure (Scope 3) has formally transitioned from an “encouraged exploration” phase to a stage of standardized regulation. This shift represents not only a test of corporate transparency in environmental information disclosure, but also a profound transformation of corporate digital carbon management capabilities.

The Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs (IPE) released its Corporate ESG AI Q&A Tool on April 21st, aiming to make environmental big data more understandable and actionable, improve incentive and accountability mechanisms, and support enterprises in enhancing their ESG performance. As part of IPE’s Blue Map AI ecosystem, the newly launched AI tool integrates extensive data collection and dynamic assessments of both Chinese and international brands, listed companies, and tens of millions of enterprises. By combining these datasets with large language models such as DeepSeek, the tool provides intelligent search and analysis services on corporate environmental and climate performance for a wide range of stakeholders.

The Measures for the Administration of Mandatory Disclosure of Enterprise Environmental Information is an important step towards the establishment of a solid system for enterprise environmental information. IPE recommends listed companies, bond-issuing enterprises, key emission units, enterprises with mandatory cleaner production audits, as well as brands and investors whose suppliers/investees are required to disclose environmental information pay high attention to the new Measures, undertake their responsibilities with the help of digital solutions, and improve their environmental performance.

After requests from some brands for IPE to help with their regional green procurement, IPE evaluated the potential for Vietnam to adopt and benefit from a more open information transparency system. We were encouraged to find adequate basis for a modest starting point. IPE identified an important role for multinational corporations to help the region accelerate progress directly by requesting missing information from their suppliers, starting with information already required by law to be provided to the public.