This article explores whether new arenas of engagement for water governance have been created and
utilised following the implementation of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in large hydropower projects
in Vietnam. Initial optimism for climate finance – in particular amongst Northern aid providers and private CDM
consultants – resulted in a boom in registration of CDM hydropower projects in Vietnam. These plans, however,
have since then busted. The article utilises a multi-scale and multi-place network governance analysis of the water
governance-climate finance nexus, based on interviews with government officials, consultants, developers, NGOs,
multilateral and international banks, and project-affected people at the Song Bung 2 and Song Bung 4 hydropower
projects in Central Vietnam. Particular attention is paid to how the place-based nature of organisations shapes the
ability of these actors to participate in decision-making. The article concludes that the CDM has had little impact
on water governance in Vietnam at the project level in terms of carbon reduction (additionality) or attaining
sustainable development objectives. Furthermore, whilst climate finance has the potential to open new, more
transparent and more accountable arenas of water governance, current arenas of the water governance-climate
finance nexus are 'rendered technical', and therefore often underutilised and inaccessible to civil society and
project-affected people.