From Inventory to Action: How Should a Company Start Its Emissions-Reduction Roadmap?

Having a greenhouse-gas inventory report does not mean a company has already reduced emissions. The real value of an inventory appears when CO₂ data are used to identify the largest emission sources, select suitable solutions, and turn them into concrete investment plans. So after completing an inventory, where should a company begin its emissions-reduction journey?

An inventory is not the destination

In the green transition, a greenhouse-gas inventory is often described as the first step. It tells a company how much greenhouse gas it emitted during a given period and which activities generated those emissions.

A factory may have direct emissions from burning coal, oil, or gas in production; indirect emissions from purchased electricity; and significant emissions associated with raw materials, transport, and other activities. Without this picture, it is difficult to know where reductions should begin.

Vietnam’s Department of Climate Change considers greenhouse-gas inventories a foundational step for identifying emission “hotspots”, setting targets, and choosing appropriate measures. Inventories are also increasingly linked to customer and supply-chain requirements and access to green finance.

The scope of Vietnamese companies required to conduct inventories is also expanding. Decision 42/2026/QD-TTg, issued on 10 August 2026 and effective from 25 September 2026, updates the list to 2,441 facilities required to conduct greenhouse-gas inventories.

However, an inventory answers only the first question: “How much is the company emitting?” The more important next question is: “How can that number be reduced?”

Step 1: Establish the current emissions profile

Not all emission sources within a company are equally important. A factory may have dozens of machines and many production stages, yet most emissions may be concentrated in a few sources such as boilers, kilns, refrigeration systems, electricity for core production lines, or a particular raw material.

After completing the inventory, therefore, the first move should not be to immediately buy new equipment, but to read the company’s own data carefully. It needs to identify which activities generate the most emissions, which sources are growing, and where reductions may be achieved at the most reasonable cost.

The Department of Climate Change recommends that the first step in preparing a mitigation plan is to assess the current situation using the latest inventory and identify the main emission sources and the contribution of each category.

This helps companies avoid a common mistake: investing in a solution labelled “green” even though it has very little impact on their largest emission source. Replacing all lighting may save electricity, for example, but if most of a factory’s energy is used by a kiln, improving the thermal process may deliver far greater benefits.

Emissions reduction should therefore start with data, not with chasing whichever technology is currently receiving the most attention.

Step 2: Identify the largest emission sources

A company that is expanding production may reduce CO₂ per unit of product while total emissions still rise because output grows quickly. That is why companies need to look ahead, not only at the current year’s figure.

In its guidance on preparing greenhouse-gas mitigation plans, the Department of Climate Change treats the development of a no-intervention emissions scenario as a separate step. Put simply, the company needs to estimate future emissions if production continues to grow but no additional mitigation measures are introduced.

That scenario becomes a comparison point. A company must know what its reduction is being measured against. This is especially important when preparing emissions-reduction projects, evaluating investment effectiveness, or tracking results over several years.

Step 3: Set emissions-reduction targets

“Reduce emissions”, “green production”, and “move toward Net Zero” are all positive directions, but they are not yet manageable targets. A reduction target should answer at least three questions: how much, by when, and relative to which baseline?

Instead of a broad objective such as “significantly reduce greenhouse gases”, a company can be more specific—for example, reduce emissions by a defined percentage by 2030 relative to a base year, or reduce emissions per unit of product.

Under Decree 06/2022/ND-CP, as amended and supplemented by Decree 119/2025/ND-CP, facility-level greenhouse-gas mitigation plans for 2026–2030 must identify the latest inventory result, projected emissions without mitigation measures, annual mitigation targets, implementation measures, and monitoring arrangements.

The important point is that the target must fit the reality of each company. There is no single emissions-reduction percentage that is appropriate for every factory.

Step 4: Select suitable emissions-reduction measures

When emissions reduction is discussed, large technologies such as green hydrogen, carbon capture, or complete replacement of production lines often receive the most attention. For most companies, however, a practical roadmap can begin with simpler changes: fixing compressed-air leaks, optimising refrigeration, improving motor efficiency, adjusting boiler operation, recovering waste heat, or replacing highly energy-intensive equipment.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has noted that Vietnam still has substantial energy-saving potential, especially in energy-intensive industries and facilities using old, low-efficiency technologies. Promoted measures include energy management, high-efficiency equipment, renewable energy, demand management, and production-process optimisation.

Companies need to rank solutions by priority. A measure can be evaluated according to the amount of emissions it could reduce, investment cost, payback period, impact on production, and feasibility with available technology.

From there, measures can be grouped into three categories: low-cost actions that can be taken immediately; projects requiring investment over the next few years; and major technological changes that need long-term preparation. This approach prevents the emissions-reduction journey from becoming so large and complex that the company does not know where to start.

Step 5: Plan and implement

According to guidance from the Department of Climate Change, companies should build a specific roadmap for each measure, including task assignments, resource allocation, and implementation timing.

This is also the point when emissions reduction becomes a responsibility shared across departments rather than a task for the environmental team alone. The Department of Climate Change notes that greenhouse-gas inventories are inherently cross-functional because the necessary data are often spread across production, engineering, accounting, and procurement.

To achieve real reductions, companies therefore need to integrate carbon into their core management and investment processes.

Step 6: Measure results and adjust

After implementation, companies need to track electricity, fuel, materials, and other relevant data to calculate actual emissions. This is the role of measurement, reporting, and verification systems—MRV.

Vietnam continues to improve its MRV system together with emissions-allowance allocation mechanisms, creating a foundation for emissions management and carbon-market operation.

Under Decree 119/2025/ND-CP, facility mitigation plans must also include monitoring arrangements and may be adjusted or updated when necessary.

This creates a loop: Inventory → identify emission sources → select solutions → implement → measure again → adjust. Emissions reduction is therefore not a one-off activity.

Should companies start even if they are not legally required to inventory emissions?

Not every company is on the list required to conduct greenhouse-gas inventories. That does not mean measuring and managing emissions matters only to regulated facilities.

According to the Department of Climate Change, many companies not covered by Vietnam’s domestic inventory list still receive requests for emissions data from international partners, especially when they participate in supply chains led by foreign-invested enterprises. Clear data can also help companies meet customer requirements and access green finance.

For these companies, starting early offers another advantage: time to build a reliable data system before requirements become more stringent.

A company does not need to build a complex carbon-management system immediately. It can start with very basic questions: How much electricity and fuel does the company use each year? Which activities consume the most energy? Are the data stored completely? Who is responsible for consolidating the information? Only after these questions can be answered does an emissions-reduction roadmap have a foundation to build on.

From an emissions figure to a business decision

The value of a greenhouse-gas inventory is not that a company gains another report. Its value lies in the decisions made from that report. One emissions figure may lead to a change in how a production line is operated. A major energy load may become an energy-efficiency investment project. A fuel bill may push the company to explore new technology.

At that point, emissions reduction is no longer an objective sitting outside production; it becomes part of operational, investment, and competitive decision-making. A company does not have to begin with its biggest possible target. What matters more is starting with sufficiently reliable data, choosing the right places to change, and proving that each solution actually reduces emissions. Moving from inventory to action is precisely the shift from “knowing how much we emit” to “knowing what to do with that number”.