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Colombia’s 3rd Green Bond: Bancóldex issues COP200bn (USD67m): Proceeds to fight climate change. Support from IDB, SECO and Climate Bonds Initiative

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Banco de Comercio Exterior de Colombia S.A. comes to market with their first green bond. Banks lead the way in Colombia. 
 

 

Bancóldex have issued their first green bond for 200 billion pesos (USD67m). The 5-year tenor will fund projects that help reduce the negative consequences of climate change and help Colombia meet its NDC targets.

This is the third green bond from Colombia and the first issuance to be available to local investors through the Colombian Stock Exchange (BVC).

Bancóldex’s ‘bono verde’ was structured with technical cooperation from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) with resources from the Secretariat of State for Economic Affairs of Switzerland (SECO) and supported by the Climate Bonds Initiative.

The second opinion was provided by Sustainalytics.

 

Who’s saying what?

Luis Fernando Castro, President of Bancóldex:

"Green bonds are a fundamental product so that Bancóldex can advance in the financing of projects related to sustainable construction, cleaner production, energy efficiency and renewable energy, among others, necessary to combat climate change".

 

Juan Ketterer, head of the IDB's Connectivity, Markets and Finance Division:

"We are adding efforts so that the countries of the region can raise private funds in key areas, while contributing to the development of their financial markets helping in the structuring of instruments in their own currencies”.

 

Liliana de Sá Kirchknopf, Head of SECO's private sector promotion division:

"The main barrier to the transition to a green economy is the high rates to finance projects. That's why we believe green bonds as an instrument can reduce costs and accelerate green investments in scale".

 

Sean Kidney, CEO of the Climate Bonds Initiative:

"We need more development banks to follow the examples of Bancóldex and the IDB and to promote green bonds as a capital raising tool to finance the NDCs and sustainable development.”

 

Colombia in perspective

As an avid Blog reader, you’ll recall Climate Bonds has been supportinglocalmarket development, working together with Colombia’s Finance Management Committee of SICLIMA (National System for Climate Change).

Collectively, E3 - Ecología, Economía y Ética,Metrix Finanzas in association with PwC-UK and the Climate Bonds Initiative, published a roadmap for a local green bonds market.

 

The Last Word

In December 2016, Bancolombia issued the first green bond from Colombia (USD115m) and in the process gaining recognition with a Green Bond Pioneer Award at the Climate Bonds 2017 Annual Conference.

Davivienda bank followed in April 2017 with the nations’ second green bond  of COP433bn (USD149m).

Bancóldex’s issuance brings a total of 18 green bonds from LATAM with a total of almost USD7bn issued to date.

But more importantly, is the 5th issuance in LATAM from development banks alone; starting with Mexico’s NAFIN back in late 2015, then Costa Rica’s Nacional Bank in 2016, then NAFIN’s 2nd issuance and Brazil’s BNDES this May.

The positive role of development and domestic banks in getting markets moving should be acknowledged. And there’s a much bigger part yet to be played by the LATAM banking sector in helping countries activate the capital investment needed to meet NDCs and sustainable development goals.

In the meantime, congratulations to Bancóldex, SECO, the IDB & all the local organisations who’ve assisted in this project.

Well done!  

 

Till next time,

Climate Bonds

 

 

Disclaimer: The information contained in this communication does not constitute investment advice in any form and the Climate Bonds Initiative is not an investment adviser. Any reference to a financial organisation or debt instrument or investment product is for information purposes only. Links to external websites are for information purposes only. The Climate Bonds Initiative accepts no responsibility for content on external websites.

The Climate Bonds Initiative is not endorsing, recommending or advising on the financial merits or otherwise of any debt instrument or investment product and no information within this communication should be taken as such, nor should any information in this communication be relied upon in making any investment decision.

Certification under the Climate Bond Standard only reflects the climate attributes of the use of proceeds of a designated debt instrument. It does not reflect the credit worthiness of the designated debt instrument, nor its compliance with national or international laws.

A decision to invest in anything is solely yours. The Climate Bonds Initiative accepts no liability of any kind, for any investment an individual or organisation makes, nor for any investment made by third parties on behalf of an individual or organisation, based in whole or in part on any information contained within this, or any other Climate Bonds Initiative public communication.


Green Bonds Mid-Year Summary 2017: Climate Bonds looks at the last six months numbers, the trends and our tips for the rest of 2017

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Record issuance in Q2, Crédit Agricole tops the underwriters table, diversity in deals but more corporates still needed, harmonisation is on the way and EU Expert Group on Sustainable Finance gathers steam

 

Green Bonds Mid-Year Summary 2017 

Headline figures for the Half Year (H1) 

  • 2017 issuance to H1: USD55.8bn 
  • Records broken: Quarter 2 (Q2) is the largest quarter of issuance on record at almost USD30bn 
  • 82 green bond deals issued in the quarter from 74 issuers 
  • Over 50% of issuers were first time issuers 
  • Green Bond transactions accounted for 3% of global bond market transactions in Q2 2017 
  • Top 5 largest issuers of H1:
    • Republic of France (USD7.6bn),
    • EIB (USD2.8bn),
    • KfW (USD2.5bn),
    • Bank of Beijing (USD2.2bn),
    • TenneT (USD2.2bn)

 

 

 

Underwriters League Table 

H1 shows Crédit Agricole on top, improving their rank from Q1. Morgan Stanley is the big mover and with Citi they round out the top three, HSBC coming in a close fourth.

Overall, French and US underwriters dominate and Landesbank Baden-Württemberg from Germany makes their first appearance in the top 15. 

 

 

Thank you to Thomson Reuters for providing their league table data for our use. Methodology information is here

 

Predictions for the rest of 2017

Sovereign issuance will increase: We have counted 8 different sovereigns that have made commitments to issuing green bonds. We’re not sure they will all be issued in 2017 but watch out for Nigeria, Kenya and Morocco. 

Chinese issuance will pick up, exceeding 2016 issuance: We know there have been a lot of deals approved for issuance by PBoC, so when the market conditions are right, more issuance will come. 

Harmonisation of standards looks increasingly likely: Many conversations have been convened by the Green Bonds Principles and others to strengthen harmonisation between standards, external reviews and Certification schemes. 

Further, the European High Level Expert Group on Sustainable Finance has published its Interim Report, which among other things calls for an EU wide approach to green standards and labelling. 

Guidance on impact reporting may be forthcoming: Post-issuance Reporting in the Green Bond Market, the Climate Bonds Study released in June, revealed that impact reporting is on the rise, but that there is little consistency and comparability. 

Large development institutions have initiated this with the Harmonized Framework for Impact Reporting in 2015 but our view is that this has become a hot topic and we will see more detailed guidance for the corporate market. 

USD130bn for the year looks possible: We expect issuance to increase over the rest of the year and possibly exceed the current Climate Bonds estimate for 2017 of USD130bn.

Looking ahead from 2017, the bigger question would be:Is USD1trn a year by 2020 possible?

 

Read the full Mid-Year Summary here

 

 

'Till next time 

Climate Bonds 

 

 

Disclaimer: The information contained in this communication does not constitute investment advice in any form and the Climate Bonds Initiative is not an investment adviser. Any reference to a financial organisation or debt instrument or investment product is for information purposes only. Links to external websites are for information purposes only. The Climate Bonds Initiative accepts no responsibility for content on external websites.
The Climate Bonds Initiative is not endorsing, recommending or advising on the financial merits or otherwise of any debt instrument or investment product and no information within this communication should be taken as such, nor should any information in this communication be relied upon in making any investment decision.
Certification under the Climate Bond Standard only reflects the climate attributes of the use of proceeds of a designated debt instrument. It does not reflect the credit worthiness of the designated debt instrument, nor its compliance with national or international laws.
A decision to invest in anything is solely yours. The Climate Bonds Initiative accepts no liability of any kind, for any investment an individual or organisation makes, nor for any investment made by third parties on behalf of an individual or organisation, based in whole or in part on any information contained within this, or any other Climate Bonds Initiative public communication.

中国绿色债券市场半年报 2017:China Green Bond Market Mid-Year Report: Green bond issuers, policy decisions and all the big market developments!

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Our latest China update, keeping you informed on the major the world’s biggest green bond market in the first half of 2017

Our China Green Bond Market Mid-Year Report, produced in partnership with China Central Depository & Clearing Co. (CCDC) is now available.

Versions in both English & Chinese can be found here

 

 

Report Highlights

The growth story continues.  China’s green bond market growth was on track in the first half of 2017. At the end of June, issuance for 2017 totalled USD11.52. This represents a 33.6%year on year growth from the first half 2016 and 20.3% of global green bonds, with 26issuers bringing 38to the market.

 

The key numbers

  • Total First Half Chinese Issuance: USD11.52bn/RMB79.39bn
  • Issuance that meets international definitions: USD8.95bn/RMB62.09bn
  • Largest issuer: China Development Bank & Bank of Beijing
  • Largest issuing sector: Energy Total Q1 & Q2
  • Approved:  USD16.85bn/RMB116.3bn
  • A full breakdown of all Q1 & Q2 2017 Chinese Green Bonds Issuance can be found inside

 

Major policy developments to date in 2017

  • China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) releases new green bond guidelines for Chinese listed companies
  • China’s Prime Minister Li Keqiang presented the 2017 Government Work Report at the 12th National People’s Congress
  • People’s Bank of PBoC and the European Investment Bank (EIB) have launched a joint initiative3 to develop a clear framework for analysis and decision-making in green finance
  • PBoC and Hong Kong Monetary Authority approve the “Bond Connect” scheme
  • PBoC and four other Ministries jointly publish the Construction and Development Planning of the Financial Industry Standardization, a concerted effort to establish and implement standards for the financial sector by 2020.
  • Taipei Exchange establishes Green Bonds Guidelines with reference to Global Standards

There's more in the full report. 

Download here in English or Chinese.

We hope you’ll enjoy it!

 

Till next time,

Climate Bonds Initiative

 

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中国绿色债券市场半年报 2017 - 绿色债券发行情况丶政策发展及市场动向

 

由气候债券倡议组织及中央国债登记结算有限责任公司共同编撰丶聚焦中国绿色债券市场的报告,提供全球最大绿色债券市场的进展。

中国绿色债券市场半年报2017正式发布,中丶英文版本可以在这里下载。

报告重点:

中国绿色债券市场维持快速增长格局。截至2017年6月底,中国绿色债券发行总额同比增长 33.6%,达到 793.9亿人民币,占全球绿色债券市场的20.6%;共有26个发行人于在岸和离岸市场上发行了38只绿色债券。

 

 

数据速览:

-2017年上半年发行总量: 793.9亿人民币/115.2亿美元

-符合国际绿色定义的发行量: 620.9亿人民币

-最大发行人: 国家开发银行, 北京银行

-最大发行人: 清洁能源

-第一季度批准规模: 1163.1亿人民币/ 168.5亿美元

 

2017年上半年主要政策发展:

-证监会出台支持绿色债券发展的指导意见

-绿色金融连续两年写入政府工作报告

-中国与欧盟共同推动绿金融定义一致化

-中国人民银行与香港金管局公布「债券通」机制

-多部委联合推动绿色金融标准化建设,明确在2020年前金融市场标准化建设的工作目标和推进路径

-台北证券交易所制定绿色债券发行指引

 

更多精彩内容,敬请参见报告全文。

点此下载英文版或中文版。

祝阅读愉快!

 

气候债券倡议组织

 

免责声明: 本简报不构成投资建议,并且气候债券倡议组织不作为 投资顾问角色。气候债券倡议组织不对任何债券或投资的优劣提供建议。投资决策完全在于您的选择。对于任 何人所作的任何类型的投资,或是由第三方所作的投 资,气候债券倡议组织不予承担任何责任。

 

 

Disclaimer: The information contained in this communication does not constitute investment advice in any form and the Climate Bonds Initiative is not an investment adviser. Any reference to a financial organisation or debt instrument or investment product is for information purposes only. Links to external websites are for information purposes only. The Climate Bonds Initiative accepts no responsibility for content on external websites.

The Climate Bonds Initiative is not endorsing, recommending or advising on the financial merits or otherwise of any debt instrument or investment product and no information within this communication should be taken as such, nor should any information in this communication be relied upon in making any investment decision.

Certification under the Climate Bond Standard only reflects the climate attributes of the use of proceeds of a designated debt instrument. It does not reflect the credit worthiness of the designated debt instrument, nor its compliance with national or international laws.

A decision to invest in anything is solely yours. The Climate Bonds Initiative accepts no liability of any kind, for any investment an individual or organisation makes, nor for any investment made by third parties on behalf of an individual or organisation, based in whole or in part on any information contained within this, or any other Climate Bonds Initiative public communication.

 

In Amsterdam on Monday 4th? Hear Justine Leigh-Bell’s keynote address to Rabobank 4th Annual Green Bond Round Table. Follow up with Justine on Tuesday 5th at the Global Capital Responsible Markets Forum-Amsterdam

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Go Dutch next week!

Breaking the Green Bond Market’s Sound Barrier is the subject of the annual Rabobank Green Bond Round Table on the Monday 4th.  Scaling up market growth is a subject close to our heart, if it’s close to yours, this is the event to attend.

Can green finance make progress if governments keep dragging their feet? Follow up from Rabobank on the Tuesday 5th at the Capital Markets Responsible and Sustainable Events Forum where Justine will outline why the finance sector must shift gears and take the lead on green investment.

 

The Rabobank Annual Green Bond Roundtable:

Key Theme: How can we break through the sound barrier of Green Bond markets, and scale up sustainable finance beyond incremental change?

We like the look of this afternoon Roundtable.

It builds on last year’s high level Rabobank event and will see mixed groups of investors, issuers and service providers in open debate around this theme, moderated by senior industry figures.

 

Twin Keynote Speakers:

Dr. John Elkington Co-founder of Volans.

Justine Leigh-Bell, Director of Market Development of the Climate Bonds Initiative.

Breaking the Green Bond Market’s Sound Barrier:  

Date: Monday the 4th of September 2017

Time: 13.00-18.00 hrs

Venue: Central Amsterdam

Registration Details: 

Please note this is a high level event and spaces are limited to 150.

Entrance is only permitted after registration via greenbondroundtable@rabobank.com.

Registration is open until Friday morning.

For more information please contact:

Eveline van Boxel at Rabobank, 

+31 30 712 4482 or  E-mail: greenbondroundtable@rabobank.com

 

 

The Capital Markets Sustainable & Responsible Investment Forum

Date Tuesday 5 September

Time: 08:00 to 17:45

Venue: TBC

Information Page & Registrations here.

 

The Last Word:

Both the Rabobank Roundtable and Global Capital Forum give you a rare opportunity to converse with Justine on her Climate Bonds work in Latin America, South America, the US and Africa.

Each of these are markets where size and scale can really make a difference.

So don't miss your double chance to meet Justine and talk big picture trends in Amsterdam next week.

Till next time,

Climate Bonds

Disclosure: Rabobank is a Climate Bonds partner. More information on partners can be found here.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this communication does not constitute investment advice in any form and the Climate Bonds Initiative is not an investment adviser. Any reference to a financial organisation or debt instrument or investment product is for information purposes only. Links to external websites are for information purposes only. The Climate Bonds Initiative accepts no responsibility for content on external websites.
The Climate Bonds Initiative is not endorsing, recommending or advising on the financial merits or otherwise of any debt instrument or investment product and no information within this communication should be taken as such, nor should any information in this communication be relied upon in making any investment decision.
Certification under the Climate Bond Standard only reflects the climate attributes of the use of proceeds of a designated debt instrument. It does not reflect the credit worthiness of the designated debt instrument, nor its compliance with national or international laws.
A decision to invest in anything is solely yours. The Climate Bonds Initiative accepts no liability of any kind, for any investment an individual or organisation makes, nor for any investment made by third parties on behalf of an individual or organisation, based in whole or in part on any information contained within this, or any other Climate Bonds Initiative public communication.

 

September events: Lagos, Lisbon, London, Madrid, New York-New York-New York, New Delhi, Beijing, Berlin, Brussels & more.

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The CBI team is back from the Northern Hemisphere holiday slumber and ready to kick-start activities with a new round of meetings, conferences, keynotes and roundtables!

Check out the months events below. Don’t miss the chance to meet the members of our team.

Have a coffee with Justine Leigh-Bell in Amsterdam or our newest recruit Olumide Lala when he’s in New York and Lagos.

Here’s the long September list:

When?

Where?

Who?

What?

1st September

New Delhi

Sean Kidney

Speaking at the Business & Climate Summit, hosted by FICCI.

4th September

Beijing

Sean Kidney

Presenting at the China-UK Green Finance Forum on Scaling Green Capital

4th September

Amsterdam

Justine Leigh-Bell

Delivering keynote address to Rabobank 4th Annual Green Bond Round Table

5th September

Beijing

Sean Kidney

Speaking at International Green Finance Forum Moderating Green bonds in emerging markets panel

5th September

Amsterdam

Justine Leigh-Bell

Presenting at Global Capital Sustainable & Responsible Capital Markets Forum

6th September

Berlin

 

Sean Kidney

Speaking at the Sustainable Investment Financing Roundtable, organised by 50 Hertz 

8th September

Lisbon

Sean Kidney

Speaking at the Oceans Meeting International Conference, organised by the  Government of Portuguese Govt.

10th-11th September

Brussels

Sean Kidney

Participating in High Level Expert Group (HLEG) on Sustainable Finance meeting

11th September

London

Andrew Whiley

Panellist at London Islamic Finance Europe Conference

11th September

London

Serena Vento

Attending the Islamic Finance Europe Forum

12th September

Brazil

Justine Leigh-Bell

Speaking at the Brazil Sustainable Market Development Council

14th September

London

Sean Kidney

Speaking at Green Financing and Investing Asia
Conference

14th-16th September

New York City

Rob Fowler

Climate Bonds representative at ISO Working Group meetings on international standards for climate finance

18th September

New York City

Sean Kidney

Speaking at Climate Bonds State of the Market Launch, HSBC

19th September

New York City

Sean Kidney

Justine Leigh-Bell

Speaking at Moody’s Seminar on green bonds

19th September

Copenhagen

Diletta Giuliani

Participating in Low Carbon City Lab Partners Day 

20th September

Beijing

Rob Fowler

Participating in CBI Assurance Roundtable for all the approved verifiers in China

21st September

Beijing

Rob Fowler

Participating in a workshop on external reviews for green bonds, run by SEB and GIZ

21st– 22nd September

New York City

Olumide Lala

Sean Kidney

Attending UNDP Securitisation Initiative discussing the Climate Aggregation Platform for Developing Countries

22nd September

Madrid

Serena Vento

Green Bond Stakeholder Meetings.

25th September

London

Sean Kidney

Speaking at the Private Capital and Climate Action (ORF event)

27th September

Berlin

Sean Kidney

Panelist at PRI in Person

28th September

Berlin

Sean Kidney

Delivering keynote address at TSI Congress 2017 with White & Case

28th September

Lagos

Olumide Lala

Justine Leigh-Bell

Participating in panel discussions at the Debt Capital Markets Development Programme

29th September

Lagos

Olumide Lala

Justine Leigh-Bell

Participating in Capital Market Green Bonds Roundtable and Sustainable Finance Initiative Programme Launch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s a packed agenda for our team, as they promote green bonds for climate outcomes. Say hello if you get the chance.

 

‘Till next time,

Climate Bonds

 

 

Disclaimer: The information contained in this communication does not constitute investment advice in any form and the Climate Bonds Initiative is not an investment adviser. Any reference to a financial organisation or debt instrument or investment product is for information purposes only. Links to external websites are for information purposes only. The Climate Bonds Initiative accepts no responsibility for content on external websites.
The Climate Bonds Initiative is not endorsing, recommending or advising on the financial merits or otherwise of any debt instrument or investment product and no information within this communication should be taken as such, nor should any information in this communication be relied upon in making any investment decision.
Certification under the Climate Bond Standard only reflects the climate attributes of the use of proceeds of a designated debt instrument. It does not reflect the credit worthiness of the designated debt instrument, nor its compliance with national or international laws.
A decision to invest in anything is solely yours. The Climate Bonds Initiative accepts no liability of any kind, for any investment an individual or organisation makes, nor for any investment made by third parties on behalf of an individual or organisation, based in whole or in part on any information contained within this, or any other Climate Bonds Initiative public communication.

Green bond aplenty, 1st's from Lithuania, Switzerland, Malaysia: 1st Green Sukuk, MBS, LATAM market momentum, UK, India and China, new comers from all corners!

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Have you done your HLEG homework?Submissions to the EU High Level Expert Group on Sustainable Finance close soon. Watch our short 1min25sec Climate Bonds video explainer to find out more.

Sneak Peek: Our annual State of the Market report is less than a month away! As a loyal Market Blog reader we can reveal the global launch with HSBC in New York on the 18th October and a follow up in Sydney on the 2nd September.  

Stay tuned for more launch details on our Twitter account @climatebonds

What’s On:  To illustrate the diversity of green finance events worldwide we’ll be highlighting a few that catch our eye or pique our interest in a new ‘What’s On’ in News Bites section at the end of the Blog.

 

New Issuers

We’re sticking to our new format to help readers keep up with the volume of green bonds emerging. New issuers in the first Table and repeat issuers in the 2nd with a link back to our original blog post.

So here we go….

Issuer

Size

CBI Certified

Verifier/Reviewer

Issuer Type

CBI Analysis

Fremont Union High School District

USD 31m

No

None

US Muni

Link to analysis

Natixis, Ivanhoe Cambridge, and Callahan Capital

USD 72m

No

Oekom

ABS

Link to analysis

Grupo Rotoplas

MXN 2bn

No

Sustainalytics

Corporate

Link to analysis

ADIF Alta Velocidad

EUR 600m

No

CICERO

Government agencies and state-backed entities

Link to analysis

Korea Development Bank

USD 300m

No

Sustainalytics

Development Bank

Link to analysis

Rural Electrification Corp

USD 450m

Yes

KPMG

Corporate

Link to analysis

L&T Infrastructure Finance Company

INR 6.7bn

No

CICERO

Commercial Bank

Link to analysis

Lietuvos Energija

EUR 300m

No

CICERO

Corporate

Link to analysis

Yiwu State Owned Assets

CNY 800m

NoIndustrial BankCorporateLink to analysis

Brookfield Renewable Partners

USD 475m

No

None

Corporate

Link to analysis

Bank of Changsha

CNY 2bn & CNY 3bn

No

EY

Commercial Bank

Link to analysis

Helvetia Environnement Groupe

CHF 75m

No

Vigeo EIRIS

Corporate

Link to analysis

DBS Group

SGD 685m

No

Sustainalytics

Corporate

Link to analysis

City of Cape Town

ZAR 1bn

Yes

KPMG

Muni

Link to analysis

SPIC Roghne Financial Leasing

CNY 1bn

No

CCXI

Corporate

Link to analysis

Rio Energy (Itarema Geração)

 

BRL 112m

Yes

Vigeo EIRIS

Corporate

Link to analysis

Omega Geração (Potami Energia)

BRL 42m

Yes

Vigeo EIRIS

Corporate

Link to analysis

Azure Power Energy

USD 500m

Yes

Emergent Ventures

Corporate

Link to analysis

Anglian Water

GBP 250m

No

DNV GL

Corporate

Link to analysis

Inter-American Investment Corporation

USD 135.8m

No

DNV GL

Development Bank

Link to analysis

GCL New Energy

CNY 375m

No

None

Corporate

Link to analysis

Tadau Energy (Edra Power)

MYR 250m

No

CICERO

ABS

Link to analysis

Bancóldex

COP 200bn

No

Sustainalytics

Government agencies and state-backed entities

Link to analysis

Guiyang Public Transport

CNY 2.65bn

No

ZHONGCAI LVRONG

ABS

Link to analysis

City of Greensboro

USD 26m

No

None

US Muni

Link to analysis

 

Repeat Issuers

Issuer

Size

Certified

Verifier

Links to our previous blog

EIB

EUR 1bn

No

None

Feb 18th 2014 Market blog

BAIC Motors

CNY 2.3bn

No

None

May 3rd2016 Market blog

SNCF Réseau

EUR 750m

No

Oekom

April 27th 2017 Market blog

Asian Development Bank

USD1.25bn

No

CICERO

March 17th 2015 Market blog

IFC

NZD 125m

No

CICERO

February 14th 2013 Market blog

KfW

AUD 200m

No

CICERO

October 9th 2014 Market blog

Renovate America/Hero Funding

USD 204.8m

No

Sustainalytics

February 26th 2016 Market blog

Beijing Enterprises Water Group

CNY 572m

No

Syntao Green Finance

August 2nd 2016 Market blog

Greenko

USD 1bn

No

Sustainalytics

August 25th 2016 Market blog

Fannie Mae

USD 873m

No

None

March 15th 2017 Market blog

 

 

Climate Bonds Certified Bonds

City of Cape Town  ZAR1bn (USD77.2m) 

In July Cape Town joined the growing ranks of cities who have issued a green bond with Climate Bonds Certified offering that attracted 4 times oversubscription.

Previous green bonds issued by South African entities included the Industrial Development Corporation and Nedbank both way back in 2012 and the City of Johannesburg, in 2014, Joburg being the first C40 city to issue a green bond.

It’s been a long time between drinks for green bonds in South Africa we’re pleased to see Cape Town taking up the cities mantle with this certified bond.  

Proceeds will go towards the refinancing of:

  • Water (93% of total): water capture, storage and distribution infrastructure, alternative water treatment plants (with quantified expected emissions impact), and flood defences
  • Transport (7% of total): electric buses

Cape Town residents are currently in the middle of a climate crisis as low rainfall for the past three years has caused the city’s worst drought in a century. This green bond integrates into the city’s water resilience plans to tackle the surge in water stress in the region.

Proceeds that are yet to be allocated to eligible projects are to be held in temporary "Green" investment instruments, a point worth noting.

Underwriter for the bond Rand Merchant Bank gives some more background on Cape Town and  green bonds in South Africa here.

The verifier’s report from KPMG is available here.

Underwriter: Rand Merchant Bank.

 

Rio Energy (Itarema Geração) – BRL 112m (USD 34m) 

Itarema Geração, a subsidiary Brazilian based Rio Energy issued a green debenture of BRL112m in June 2017. It’s certified by Climate Bonds under the Wind Criteria.

Nine wind farms will be refinanced via the debt raised: Itarema I to Itarema IX all located in North-eastern state of Ceará.

Wind is pretty easy – it’s infrastructure that is clearly in line with a 2-degree pathway.

Additionally, it is estimated that the project will generate about 913.91 GWh of renewable energy per year.

The verifier’s report will be shortly uploaded here.

Underwriter: Itaú Unibanco.

 

Omega Geração (Potami Energia) – BRL42m (USD13.6m) 

A São Paulo based subsidiary of Omega Geração, Potami Energia issued a Climate Bonds certifiedgreen debenture on the domestic market in May 2017. 

Proceeds will help refinance 3 wind parks (Testa Branca I - 22 MW), Testa Branca III - 22 MW and Porto do Delta - 30.8 MW), located in the Northeast state of Piauí.

The verifier’s report from Vigeo EIRIS will be shortly uploaded here.

Underwriter: Banco ABC Brasil.

Watch this space for more analysis in Climate Bonds’ 2nd Brazilian Edition of the State of the Market 2017 report, planned for release in late October 2017.

 

Azure Power Energy – USD500m 

India’s Azure Power Energy recently closed its inaugural green bond, certified under the Climate Bonds Solar Criteria to refinance solar projects in India aggregating 621MW.

Azure Power is a pure play developer and operator of utility-scale solar assets in India.

The verifier’s report from Emergent Ventures India can be accessed here.

Underwriters: Barclays, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, JP Morgan, Société Générale.

There has been a small flurry of issuance from Indian issuers in Q3 after a slow start to 2017 – so far India is the largest source of issuance for this quarter!

Exciting times – keep an eye out for where we end up at the end of September…

 

Rural Electrification Corp, India – USD450m 

The Rural Electrification Corp of India (REC) issued a certified Climate Bond for USD 450m this past month. REC is one of India’s leading power infrastructure companies.

Proceeds will initially finance just solar and wind projects.

However, beady-eyed readers may notice that a much broader range of asset types are classified as eligible in the Green Bond Framework  (like hydro and biomass) for which there are no Climate Bonds criteria available yet

So, how does it work?

Well, the bond was certified against the criteria that are currently available (solar and wind criteria) but the green bond framework is broad enough to allow proceeds (of this bond or future bonds) to be allocated towards other areas in the future (like biomass or hydro) subject to criteria being available.

The ‘subject to’ is the important part – at the moment, those criteria are not available so no proceeds will be allocated to anything other than wind and solar projects.

There was a lot of interest generated by this bond resulting in 3.9x oversubscription.

REC have committed to annual reporting which will be independently verified by a third party.

A verifiers report was provided by KPMG.

Underwriters: ANZ, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Mizuho, MUFG.

 

Corporate Green Bonds

Lietuvos Energija, Lithuania – EUR300m (USD342.5m) 

A new entrant to the market is Lithuanian state-owned energy company, Lietuvos Energija, who issued a green bond in mid-July 2017. They were initially seeking to raise EUR200m from their green bond but the amount was revised up to EUR300m following strong interest from potential investors, music to our ears!

The largest investors were German, Finnish, French and Lithuanian. 

Proceeds have been allocated for the following types of projects:

  • Renewable energy: wind power, biogas, solar power, geothermal power, hydropower (defined as: a. new investments, refurbishment and maintenance of small scale hydro power plants up to 10 MW and b. refurbishment and maintenance of large scale hydro without any increase in the size of the reservoir)
  • Pollution prevention and control: energy from forest biomass waste or municipal waste streams
  • Energy efficiency: improving distribution networks to minimize network losses and allow for renewables to be connected, smart grids and ESCO projects
  • Clean transportation solutions: electric vehicle infrastructure

The only potentially controversial parts of the framework is the hydro section but they gave specified that for large scale hydro, this will only be refurbishment, not new hydro.

The other somewhat tricky point is the energy efficiency criteria which includes improving distribution networks. While improving the efficiency of electricity grids is essential, we note that this alone will not be sufficient to bring an electricity system in line the steep emissions trajectory required for a 2-degree world.

So, we’re glad to see that the framework also outlines renewable energy projects as eligible for bond allocation – we hope to see both types of projects happening together.

Well done Lietuvos for being the first Lithuanian green bond issuer! We hope to see more issuers from neighboring countries following in Lietuvos’s footsteps.

The second opinion by CICERO is available here. The framework was attributed a Dark Green grade.

Underwriters: BNP Paribas, SEB.

 

DBS Group Holdings – SGD 685m (USD 500m) 

Singapore based financial services group DBS have issued a SGD 685m green bond.

Proceeds will be used to finance or refinance projects which meet the following criteria:

  • Green buildings: Purchase, construction or renovation of commercial and residential buildings that meet recognised standards of LEED Gold and above or equivalent certifications
  • Sustainable transportation: public transportation (such as rail, metros, trams, cable cars, electric/hybrid buses, and bicycle schemes and supporting infrastructure) as well as electric or hybrid vehicles with 125gCO2/km under the Vehicular Emissions Scheme
  • Renewable energy: wind, solar, run-of-river hydro projects <25MW, or other renewables recognized as such by the International Renewable Energy Agency
  • Energy efficiency: Products or technologies that reduce industrial energy consumption, such as improved chillers, improved lighting technology and enhanced battery capacity
  • Waste management: recycling infrastructure, including waste minimisation, filtering, management, recycling and reuse as well as waste-to-energy power plants
  • Climate change adaptation: products or technologies that enable adaptation and decrease vulnerability to climate change, including information support systems such as climate observation and early warning systems

Their green bond framework and second opinion by Sustainalytics is available here.

All the criteria are detailed and from the information available, are aligned with our Taxonomy.

For hybrid cars, however, we note that the Climate Bonds transport criteria take a more stringent approach - for cars to be considered green under the Climate Bonds Standard, they must meet, or be below, a maximum emissions level of 85-90 grams of CO2 per passenger kilometre travelled (g CO2 p/km). This is based on data from the IEA mobility model and Global fuel economy initiative.

Underwriters: Crédit Agricole CIB, DBS, HSBC, ING, Natixis, Société Générale, Wells Fargo.

 

Anglian Water – GBP250m (USD326m) 

UK utility Anglian Water issued the first green bond from a UK-based issuer in 2017. This is only the 6th green bond from the UK, and the first from a utility. The transaction was 3.2x oversubscribed.

Issued on August, 10th, 2017 this inaugural green bond will support activities falling under the utility’s “Love Every Drop” sustainability strategy.

This includes sustainable water management and recycling projects with a reduced climate footprint.

Interestingly, the project selection criteria indicate a minimum carbon reduction of 50% from Anglian Water’s agreed baseline (unfortunately the baseline is not specified), large infrastructure projects, sustainable abstraction schemes, river restoration projects, work on the natural environment programme and significant energy saving schemes.

We note that energy saving rather than water saving is a core focus of this bond. Anglian has been advising investors how significant this this is for them given that how much energy they consume – in particular moving water around is energy intensive.  

DNV GL provided the second opinion.

The green bond reporting will include some impact metrics, which will be available within one year of the issuance.

On another note, Anglian Water is a best practice example at how utilities build resilience as climate patterns change. They have integrated climate change risks and scenarios into their daily activities and have robust public adaptation, drought and water resources management plans.

Primarily because of its strong adaptation planning, we identified Anglian Water as a potential green bond issuer in our 2016 State of the Market report where it was the largest issuer of unlabeled ‘climate-aligned’ bonds in the water sector.

Underwriters: BNP Paribas, HSBC, ING, JP Morgan.

 

Yiwu State Owned Assets – CNY800m (USD118m) 

Yiwu State-owned Assets mainly offers state-owned capital operation and equity management services. The Company also provides investment and financing services. All proceeds of this green bond will be used for water treatment projects in Yiwu City.

Second opinion provider: China credit rating.

Underwriter: Industrial Bank.

 

Helvetia Environnement Groupe – CHF75m (USD77.3m) 

This is the first green bond coming from a Swiss issuer (prior to this date, a green Schuldschein was issued by Swiss energy utility Repower in January 2017).

According to the company’s press release, the proceeds will be used to finance the construction of a new waste management facility.

The issuer’s framework received a second opinion from Vigeo EIRIS but this document is not publicly available at this stage. We would encourage more transparency of either the green bond framework or second opinion as this would allow investors to see how the bond is compliant with the green bond principles.

Underwriters: BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse.

 

Brookfield Renewable Partners (Private Placement) – USD475m 

July saw one of the largest green bond private placements to date with Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P.  issuing a USD 475m project bond secured against the 380MW White Pine hydroelectric portfolio in Maine.

74% of proceeds of the offering will be used in part to refinance the White Pine Hydro facility. The remaining proceeds will be used to offset funding of capital expenditure and development activities at a number of renewable projects. The final allocation to the other renewable energy projects has not yet been finalised but estimates include three onshore wind projects, one biomass project and two small hydro projects. 

The White Pine portfolio consists of 21 hydroelectric facilities primarily located in Maine, on the Androscoggin, Dead, Kennebec, Presumpscot, Rapid and Saco rivers. The facilities are a range of sizes and a mix or run-of-river and reservoir facilities.

These are all existing hydro facilities, many of which were built in the 1950’s, so issues around GHG emissions from the flooding of new reservoirs are mitigated.

The bond received the strongest Green Evaluation score from S&P of E1 which reflects excellent mitigation. 

 

GCL New Energy (Private placement) – CNY375m (USD55.7m) 

The initial private placement green bond from China’s solar PV power provider GCL came to the market in early August with CNY375m (USD55.7m).

Proceeds will be used to finance and refinance the installation and manufacturing of solar panels. No second opinion.

 

Commercial Banks

L&T Infrastructure Finance Company – INR6.67bn (USD103m) 

This is a continuation of the International Finance Corp (IFC) work in India to expand renewable energy infrastructure and climate change projects. This bond is very straightforward as solar power is a clean energy technology which is eligible under the CBI taxonomy.

The IFC were the sole investors in the bond which will be used to provide loans for solar power projects.

Projects eligible under their use of proceeds are as follow:

  • Renewable energy: Solar power

A second opinion is available here from CICERO.

 

Bank of Changsha – CNY2bn (USD 291m) & CNY3bn (USD444.6m) 

Bank of Changsha came to the market with CNY2bn and CNY3bn green bonds issued in May and July respectively. Proceeds are going to a variety of projects, including clean energy, low carbon transport, adaptation and the efficiency improvement of municipal lighting system.   

The bank has provided a list of project examples to be financed, including metro construction, LED and smart lighting, as well as hydro.

Metro projects and LED lighting all fit easily under our taxonomy. Hydro can be more complicated but the combined installation capacity of all these hydro projects is 12.75MW. This is in alignment with our taxonomy which uses 15MW as the threshold of differentiating the controversial large hydro projects from the small ones.

EY provided second opinion.

Underwriters: CITIC Securities, China Merchants Bank.

 

Development Banks

Korea Development Bank (KDB) – USD300m 

Proceeds from the bonds are to be allocated to the following projects:

  • Development, construction, or expansion of wind and solar power generation.
  • Development, construction, or expansion of biomass power plants.

In terms of eligible biomass projects, KDB is opting for a waste-to-energy approach. The plants will use wood pellets made of low grade wood fiber, tops and limbs that cannot be processed into lumber, commercial thinning and mill residues such as chips, sawdust and other wood industry by-products.

Well to KDB for addressing environmental concerns commonly associated with biomass by responsibly choosing waste-to-energy.

Sustainalytics provided the second opinion.

Underwriters: Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Crédit Agricole CIB, HSBC.

 

Inter-American Investment Corporation (Private placement) – USD135.8m 

The issuer is the private sector arm of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group. It raised nearly USD136m in early August to finance the operation of the 35x2MW wind turbines located in Palomas, Uruguay. The project developer is Invenergy. 

The project should generate enough energy to supply the city of Salto (100,000 inhabitants), and will participate in the annual reduction of 140,000t of carbon dioxide.

Being climate-friendly is as easy as ABC!

Second opinion: DNV GL.

 

Government Agencies and State Backed Entities

ADIF Alta Velocidad – EUR600m (USD681m) 

This past month saw the issuance of a green bond by Spanish company ADIF Alta Velocidad. ADIF are tasked with maintaining railway infrastructure across Spain. Their issuance joins SNCF Réseau this month and RATP last month in a recent burst of green bonds by companies who operate railway infrastructure (is an issuance like this a long way off in the UK?).

Proceeds from the bond have to be allocated to “clean transportation/energy efficiency” which includes new rail lines, upgrading current lines and maintenance of the rail system.

Increased use of rail transport is very compatible with a 2-degree future, so it is a win!

CICERO’s second opinion is available here.

Underwriters: Banco Bilbao Vizcaya, Santander, BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole CIB.

 

Bancóldex – COP200bn (USD66.5m) 

This third Colombian green bond was issued in early August by the state-owned Banco de Comercio Exterior de Colombia (Bancóldex).

The green bond framework received a second opinion from Sustainalytics.

Proceeds will go to the following eligible categories:

  • Pollution control and resource efficiency (including waste management and wastewater treatment)
  • Sustainable transport (acquisition of hybrid and electric vehicles)
  • Energy efficiency: including investments that improve average energy efficiency by 20-30%) and investments financing the replacement of old power systems using high efficiency motors powered by natural gas
  • Renewable energy
  • Sustainable buildings

Bancóldex has identified a portfolio of 117 projects that could receive allocations from its green bond issuance, 42% in renewable energy, 42% in pollution control, 6% in sustainable buildings, 9% in energy efficiency and just 1% in sustainable transport projects.

While broadly positive, this bond has a few issues.

High efficiency natural gas motors to replace old power systems are included under energy efficiency. The company has stated that this replacement represents the best efforts in the local context but, while that may be the case, they do not qualify as green by our or Sustainalytics definition.

We would normally exclude this bond from our data but the company has specified that a maximum of 3% of proceeds will be allocated to such projects. We allow a leeway of 5% for green bonds so this fits within that band but we will monitor reporting to see if anything changes.

Secondly, the criteria used to define sustainable buildings green is Colombia’s green building code.  This is difficult because it makes international comparisons difficult. However, we do accept the rationale given by the company and Sustainalytics that international building certification schemes have very low penetration rates in Colombia (only 105 LEED certified buildings) so this is probably the best way at present to support the improvement of national building stock.

Lastly, it would be helpful to have a bit more information about the waste and wastewater projects which account for a large percentage of the bond but this is a small niggle.

Broadly, it’s positive – Dale Colombia!

Underwriters: Banco Davivienda, Banco de Comercio Exterior, Correval.

 

Municipalities & Cities

Fremont Union High School District – USD31m 

Fremont Union High School District issued a green bond in July.

Proceeds from the bond have been allocated to four projects that the district is undertaking that meet some or all of the following sustainable building practices and components:

  • Solar panels on buildings
  • Efficient building envelopes
  • Efficient building systems: Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning equipment that exceed energy efficiency requirements.
  • Indoor environmental quality: selecting materials to minimize the amount of volatile organic compounds in the buildings.
  • Daylight and views: projects designed to provide ample and balanced daylight.

The solar panels are easy – they easily fit into any green taxonomy.

The rest of the ‘sustainable building practices and components’ are a bit vague.

The overall principles sound fine but they have not used any international standards (like LEED) which makes comparison or any kind of measurement of ‘green’ difficult.

They have used Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) California criteria which is a “is a flexible yardstick that defines a high performance school in California”. It’s a positive that they have used some criteria but without any more information it’s difficult to assess this compared to other schemes.

Why are we always focused on buildings being benchmarked and comparable? While some may take the view that any efficiency improvement is better than none, the judgment of the international experts that comprise our Technical Working Groups is that deep and ambitious renovation/construction of existing building stock is needed.

This is because investment in a building happens only very rarely (when it is built and then maybe every 10-15 years thereafter).

This means that refits and refurbishments need to make the building ‘fit’ for the future – and therefore as environmentally friendly and energy efficient as possible.

No second opinion.

Underwriter: Morgan Stanley.

 

City of Greensboro – USD26m 

The City of Greensboro in North Carolina issued its maiden green bond on the 17th of August. The bond will finance the costs associated to the improvements of the City’s water and sanitary sewer system, including repairs, equipment and expanding the water treatment capacity.

No second opinion.

Underwriter: Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

 

Asset Backed Securities (ABS)

Natixis, Ivanhoe Cambridge, and Callahan Capital – USD72m 

In early June we saw Natixis, Ivanhoe Cambridge, and Callahan Capital issued the very first Green CMBS Deal. The debt raised was issued to refinance part of a loan provided by Natixis to Ivanhoe Cambridge for the acquisition of 85 Broad Street in New York.

The property obtained a LEED Platinum rating in January 2017, being the highest level obtainable under the system.

LEED Platinum is also very much in line with the Climate Bonds Low Carbon Buildings Criteria.

Oekom provided the second party opinion.

Underwriters: Crédit Suisse, Natixis.

 

Guiyang Public Transport – CNY2.6bn (USD389m) 

Guiyang Public Transport issued its CNY2.65bn (USD389m) inaugural green ABS, backed by future cash flows from the mass transit operating revenue. Proceeds will be primarily used for upgrading green transport infrastructure and improving energy efficiency. Since specific categories are not disclosed at this stage, we will track the allocation of proceeds and update with details once we have more information.

Guiyang City is the capital of China’s Southwest province Guizhou which has been nominated as one of the five green finance pilot zones by the State Council of China. 

Zhongcai Lvrong provided a second opinion, but the report is not publicly available at this point.

Underwriter: Ping An Securities.

 

Tadau Energy (Edra Power) – MYR250m (USD 58.5m): First ever green Sukuk! 

Right at the end of July, Malaysia’s Tadau Energy issued the first-ever green Sukuk.

The earmarked project is a 50MW solar project in the coastal city of Kudat, in the Sabah state.

So… what is a sukuk?

Sukuk are “tradable Islamic finance instruments”, consistent with the principles of Shari’ah. Sukuk represent an ownership in underlying assets or earnings from those assets. While sukuk are often described as Islamic bonds, there are also types of sukuk that have equity-type risk-sharing structures. Their closest equivalent is probably the “YieldCo”, with its fixed interest like return.

This deal ends a somewhat drawn out race for the first sukuk (yes, it was 2015 when we said ‘the race is on’! Climate Bonds first started discussing the concept in a joint webinar back in 2013 and no doubt, others were before then…but here we are, the first Green Sukuk. Hopefully there is more to come!

This deal is also exciting because it’s also the FIRST green bond from Malaysia!

Two firsts - well done!

Second party opinion from CICERO.

Underwriter: AFFIN Hwang Investment Bank.

 

Other Debt Instruments

Terna, green loan – USD81m

The loan was issued by the Italian Terna in mid-July, with 70% financed by the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC) and 30% by BBVA. It will allow the company to build a transmission line between the cities of Melo and Tacuarembó in Uruguay, connecting renewable energy generating projects. 

Second party opinion from Vigeo EIRIS.

 

Excluded bonds – pending additional information

SPIC Roghne Financial Leasing – CNY1bn (USD145.7m) 

This is a private placement coming from Chinese issuer SPIC Roghne Financial Leasing which provides finance to energy and other projects.

As is common with private placements, there is no detailed information on the allocation of bond proceeds. However, according to this news release, all fund raised will be used for financial leasing for wind, solar, and hydro projects. We will keep looking for further disclosure on the size of the related hydro projects, and this bond might be excluded if it fails to meet our hydro criteria. 

Second opinion provider: CCXI

Underwriter: Industrial Bank of China.

 

CLP Climate Action Bond

CLP Holdings Limited (CLP) issued a climate action bond. Under CLP's framework there are two types of eligible bonds, Energy Transition Bonds and New Energy Bonds. New Energy bonds have been earmarked for renewable energy, energy efficiency, and low emission transport infrastructure – this is broadly fine.

But…“energy transition” bonds are excluded from our database.

They are for developing gas fired power plants to help transition from coal fired plants. Gas is complicated… it may be a transition but there are some problems with this.

Firstly, the case for gas as a transition fuel is not at all clear. When people talk about emission savings from gas they are generally talking about "deemed" emission savings – i.e. estimated savings. It turns out that there can be a big discrepancy between estimates and reality.

There has been a global spike in methane generation in the past five years, and it looks like it may be coming from fugitive emissions. Further, methane is 30 times more potent a greenhouse gas than CO2 –meaning that a single gas blow-out can cause huge problems as it did in LA in 2015 when one blow-out was equal to one-quarter of the annual methane pollution from all other sources in the Los Angeles Basin. 

Secondly, from a 2-degree pathway perspective – large scale building of new gas power is not the infrastructure needed in 2030 or 2050 to ensure the rapid decarbonization needed.

Yes it’s true that most estimates show that gas will be a part of the energy mix for many decades to come, particularly in emerging economies but if there is a rapid uptake of gas power generation across the world as a ‘transition energy source’, the level and pace of decarbonization needed to hold temperature rise at 2 deg becomes exceedingly difficult. 

DNV GL provided the second party opinion.

 

News Bites & Gossip

What’s On?

Anything to do with boosting NDC financing and investable propositions always draws our eye. This 15 September half day Climate Finance Accelerator‘Financing the Future’ wrap up looks intriguing. It’s backed by the UK Govt & is aimed at the investment community. Registration is here.

Green Financing– Aktuelle Entwicklungen bei Green Bonds. An afternoon event in Vienna on the 20 September involves the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and our friends at White & Case. It has a stellar list of speakers. Zur Anmeldung klicken Sie bitte hier.  

Green Bonds Americas 2017 is the 3rd time around for Environmental Finance and will be held on 23September in New York. We want to see hundreds of billions in green bonds from corporate America accelerating issuance and more cities following the lead of MTA in New York and BART in California.

So this Big Apple eventgets a big tick. If there ever was a nation in the world that needed encouragement on green finance and climate action right now…

 

Reading and reports

Our China Mid-Year Report 中国绿色债券市场半年报: Market overviews, every green bond issued in China Jan-July, first movers and more. Available in English & Chinese.  

Londonroundtable discussionon ESG, SRI & green bonds makes an interesting read.  Organised by ANZ Bank & Kanga News there’s a good mix of Australian and global perspectives.

NDCi Global talks to CBI’s Justine Leigh Bell. More issuers, transparency on use of proceeds, how to fund NDCs and the $US1trillion by 2020 target. 

 

Moving Pictures

The EU Expert Group on Sustainable Finance is important!

Climate Bonds quick1min25secvideo clip explains why. Watch it on our YouTube Channel here.

 

Other market News

Brown Advisory Launches Sustainable Bond Fund.

City and County of Honolulu’s green bond closing on Sept 14th.

Mexico’s Grupo Rotoplas have issued a sustainability bond for MXN2bn (USD112m). 

State Bank of India (SBI)’s Green Bond Framework is now available here.

Kiwi firm Contact Energy has launched an NZD1.8bn (USD1.3bn) Green Loan Borrowing programme Certified by the Climate Bonds Initiative, the biggest single certification we’ve ever done.

SSE prepares green bond.

Hypo Vorarlberg are on their inaugural green bond roadshow.

Spanish Group Greenalia is expected to come to the green bond market in September.

American company Big Bears Recycling are considering issuing a green bond.

 

Coming up in the next Market Blog

Dairy producer Meggle issued green Schuldschein.

NIB launched 5-year SEK 2bn environmental bond.

Santa Monica approves green bond.

Lagos State’s first tranche N27bn waste management bond closed.

 

And lastly, another HLEG?Responsible Investor reports an informal group of “Canadians working in finance in London and other European financial centres” are breakfasting on the 14th of Sept to canvas a Canadian Expert Group similar to the EU project on sustainable finance.  A further round of discussion is set when pension funds and asset managers get together in Berlin later this month for PRI IN Person.

Want to know more? Contact Hamish Stewart, Head of Investor Engagement at ET Index. 

 

That’s all for this time around. We're saving our graphs for our 2017 State of the Market report, launch coming up soon. Wait for it!

 

Till next time,

Climate Bonds

 

 

Disclosure: Several organisations named in this communication are Climate Bonds Partners. A full list of Partners can be found here.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this communication does not constitute investment advice in any form and the Climate Bonds Initiative is not an investment adviser.  Any reference to a financial organisation or debt instrument or investment product is for information purposes only. Links to external websites are for information purposes only. The Climate Bonds Initiative accepts no responsibility for content on external websites.

The Climate Bonds Initiative is not endorsing, recommending or advising on the financial merits or otherwise of any debt instrument or investment product and no information within this communication should be taken as such, nor should any information in this communication be relied upon in making any investment decision. 

Certification under the Climate Bond Standard only reflects the climate attributes of the use of proceeds of a designated debt instrument. It does not reflect the credit worthiness of the designated debt instrument, nor its compliance with national or international laws.

A decision to invest in anything is solely yours. The Climate Bonds Initiative accepts no liability of any kind, for any investment an individual or organisation makes, nor for any investment made by third parties on behalf of an individual or organisation, based in whole or in part on any information contained within this, or any other Climate Bonds Initiative public communication.

 

北京: Sean Kidney介绍气候债券倡议组织研究报告 Beijing: Sean Kidney presents Climate Bonds research on scaling green markets to China-UK Green Finance Forum. Addressing low carbon transition - a key part of China & UK shared vision for promoting sustainable development

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The global green bond markets are booming, but the capital mobilized to date is far from enough to finance the worldwide transition to low-carbon economy.

At yesterday’s China-UK Green Finance Forum in Beijing, Climate Bonds has shared its recommendations on scaling up green capital flow, highlighting the importance of connecting international green bond markets with China.  

Developing terms of green definitions, information flows, market infrastructure and market access all set the platform for the next phase of growth.

               

Background to the Green Finance Taskforce

China and the UK have been progressively increasing their cooperation around green finance at G20, ministerial and financial levels.

The China-UK Green Finance Collaboration Taskforce, established by Green Finance Committee of China Society for Finance and Banking and the City of London’s Green Finance Initiative, is tasked with increasing financial cooperation between the two nations and growing green investment and opportunities.

Five Workstreams have been established to examine best practice and policy options around five main aspects:

  • Assessing environmental risk,
  • Green asset backed securities,
  • Analyzing funding costs via ESG risks and assessments,
  • Greening the Belt and Road, and 
  • Scaling-up green capital flows.

 

Climate Bonds Initiative is one of Workstream Co-Chairs along with Central University of Finance and Economics International Institute of Green Finance, UNPRI, China Industrial Bank, Bank of England, ICBC, HSBC, Renmin University of China Research Center of Ecological Finance, City of London and Bank of China London Branch.

Yesterday’s Beijing Forum was convened to review the main research achievements of the Task Force Workstreams and also discuss future collaboration, as a part of the 9th China-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue.

 

What’s the Climate Bonds view on scaling up?

Climate Bonds put forward a series of interim recommendations at the Forum.

In a report titled “Facilitating International Capital Flows to Grow China’s Green Bond Market”, produced by the Climate Bonds Initiative in collaboration with Bank of China London Branch, the following challenges faced with domestic issuers and international investors:

 

Challenges to Green Bond Issuance from China:

- Lack of awareness among potential green bond issuers

- Capital costs for Chinese issuers may not be as low as expected

- Approval process and quota limitation

 

Challenges for international investors participating in the onshore green bond market:

- Differences between China’s green definitions and internationally accepted green definitions

- Lack of information on China’s green bond market

- Controlled domestic market access

- Capital flow controls

- Inadequate hedging tools

- Unfamiliar with domestic credit ratings

 

Nine Core Recommendations:

- Raising Chinese issuers’ awareness through market education activities and demonstration issuance

- Improving international investors’ understanding of China’s green bond market through investor roadshows and engagement platforms

- Developing green bond database and indices

- Establishing and using internationally accepted green bond standards and certification scheme

- Simplifying approval process

- Providing clearer policy guidance on market entering schemes

- Providing clear policy signal and guidance to reduce investor perception on capital controls

- Developing RMB hedging instruments

- Improving domestic credit ratings practice

 

Who’s saying what?

Co-chairs and guests also exchanged views on future green finance collaboration leading up to the 9th China-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue scheduled for later this year:

Chen Yulu, Deputy Governor of People’s Bank of China, emphasized that the development of green finance in China is still at an early stage, more effort should be put into improving product yield and maturity mismatch, promoting cross border capital flow, and bringing together think tanks to work towards these goals. Multinational as well as bilateral framework such as the China-UK Green Finance Taskforce play an important role.

Speaking on prevention of environmental risks translate into financial risks, Ma Jun, Chief Economist of the PBoC Research Bureau and Chair of Green Finance Committee of China Society for Finance and Banking, suggested that the market can look into developing a stress test design akin to bank stress tests, setting threshold of carbon price level or sea water level as adverse scenario.

 

Climate Bonds CEO Sean Kidney noted that, apart from working on reduction of the friction between different green bond definitions, encouraging better use of proceeds disclosure and compliance with the best practice of external review would be positive developments. 

Chinese regulators may also foster green bond market growth by giving preferential treatment such as  green windows to international investors, a fast track to facilitate approval process of investment funds and a Green Bond Connect scheme to be built on the basis of China-Hong Kong Bond Connect.

 

Martyn Roper, Minister and Deputy Head of Mission, British Embassy in Beijing, commented that more work need to be done on mainstreaming green investment and making it more commercially attractive.

This might require investors taking more proactive ESG strategy and industries improving their information disclosure.

 

From a broader perspective, Sir Roger Gifford, Chairman of City of London Green Finance Initiative, stressed that finance without going green is meaningless, only financial activities in support of green development are truly finance.

 

What’s Next?

The final Climate Bonds/Bank of China London Branch report will be published at the 2017 China-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue to be held later this year.

We’ll keep you posted.

 

'Till next time,

Climate Bonds

 

                 

 

在北京:肖恩.基德尼(Sean Kidney)向中英绿色金融合作专题小组汇报气候债券倡议组织就扩大中国绿色债券市场的研究结果。积极填补向低碳经济过度面临的全球融资缺口,实现环境可持续发展,是中英双方的共同愿景。

全球绿色债券市场正在快速增长,但是所调动的资本远不足以支持全球向低碳经济过度的融资需求。

昨天,2017年中英绿色金融论坛在北京举行,气候债券倡议组织在会上分享了其对于扩大绿色跨境资本流的建议,突出国际绿色债券市场与中国对接的重要性,透过推动国内与国外绿色定义融合、增强信息流,改善市场基建及市场准入等多方面着手,为全球绿色债券市场下个阶段的发展打下夯实基础。

 

中英绿色金融工作组背景

中英两国一直致力于加强在绿色金融领域的合作,包括在二十国集团、政府部门以及金融部门层面。 中英绿色金融工作组由中国金融学会绿色金融专业委员会和伦敦金融绿色金融倡议组织组建,旨在促进中英两国推进绿色金融合作,增加绿色投资机会。

中英绿色金融工作组分为五个议题小组,围绕以下五个方面讨论最佳实践和政策建议:

- 环境压力测试

-绿色资产支持证券(ABS)

- ESG评估

-一带一路中的绿色投资

-促进绿色债券的跨境资本流动

 

气候债券倡议组织是其中一个议题小组的牵头方,其他议题小组牵头方包括中央财经大学绿色金融国际研究院、联合国责任投资原则组织、兴业银行、英格兰银行、工商银行、汇丰银行、中国人民大学、伦敦金融城和中国银行伦敦分行。

昨天在北京举行的论坛讨论了中英绿色金融工作组的主要研究结果,并探讨了未来合作方案,以纳入第九次中英经济财金对话内容。

 

气候债券倡议组织对扩大绿色跨境资本流的建议?

在气候债券倡议组织与中国银行伦敦分行共同撰写的《推动绿色跨境投资,发展中国绿色债券市场》报告中,分析了中国绿色债券发行人与国际绿色债券投资者所面临的挑战:

 

中国发行人在境外发行绿色债券的挑战:

-潜在发行人缺乏发行绿色债券的意识

-发行人资金成本或高于预期

-审批流程和配额限制

 

国际投资者参与中国境内绿色债券市场的挑战:

-中国的绿色定义与国际普遍接受的绿色定义之间存在差异

-中国绿色债券市场的信息不足

-中国债券市场准入障碍

-资本管制

-缺乏对冲工具

-对国内信用评级不熟悉

 

九大建议:

-通过示范发行向其它潜在发行人展示经验

-加深国际投资者对中国境内绿色债券市场的了解

-发展绿色债券数据库和绿债指数

-推动境内外绿色债券标准的融合

-简化审批流程

-为绿色债券投资者进入市场提供明确的政策指引

-释放明确的资金流动管制政策信号和加强指导,减少投资者的担忧

-开发人民币对冲工具

-完善国内信用评级实践

 

什么人说了什么话?

昨天会上,中英绿色金融工作组议题小组牵头方与来自金融系统和行业组织的嘉宾们交流对未来绿色金融合作方案的看法,以纳入第九次中英经济财金对话内容。

中国人民银行副行长陈雨露指出,中国绿色金融发展还处于初始阶段,在多个不同方面仍然需要加大推动力度,包括改善绿色金融产品收益率和期限错配的问题、促进跨境资本流动、鼓励智库机构提供建议等。此外,多边或双边国家的一些合作框架,例如中英绿色金融工作组,对实现上述目标发挥重要作用。

针对防止环境风险转化为金融风险,中国人民银行研究局首席经济学家及中国金融学会绿色金融专业委员会主任马骏建议,在设计环境压力测试方面,市场可以借鉴银行压力测试的做法,设置碳价格或海平面变化程度的临界值,作为不利场景的测试基准。

气候债券倡议组织首席执行官 Sean Kidney提出,除了降低不同绿色债券定义之间的差别给市场发展带来的阻力,鼓励完善募集资金用途的信息披露,促进外部审查方面的最佳实践,中国监管机构还可以通过给投资者提供便利措施的方式促进绿色债券市场的发展,如建立投资基金申请进入市场的快速通道,在内地-香港债券通机制下建立绿色债券通等

英国驻华使馆公使兼副馆长罗廷表示我们需要主流化绿色投资,使其更具商业吸引力。这可能需要投资者采取更积极的ESG策略,改善信息披露

伦敦金融城绿色金融倡议组织的主席 Roger Gifford 爵士强调不是“绿色”的金融是没有意义的,只有支持绿色发展的金融活动才是真正的金融。

 

下一步?

由气候债券倡议组织与中国银行伦敦分行共同撰写的报告会在今年年底举行的2017年中英经济财金对话上发布。

敬请期待下一次更新。

气候债券倡议组织

免责声明: 本文所提供的信息不构成任何投资建议,气候债券倡议组织并不是投资顾问。气候债券倡议组织并没未提供任何关于投资优缺点的建议。投资决定完全取决于投资者自身。气候债券倡议组织对任何个人或机构的任何投资以及代表任何个人或机构的第三方机构的任何投资概不负责。

 

 

 

Disclaimer: The information contained in this communication does not constitute investment advice in any form and the Climate Bonds Initiative is not an investment adviser.  Any reference to a financial organisation or debt instrument or investment product is for information purposes only. Links to external websites are for information purposes only. The Climate Bonds Initiative accepts no responsibility for content on external websites.

The Climate Bonds Initiative is not endorsing, recommending or advising on the financial merits or otherwise of any debt instrument or investment product and no information within this communication should be taken as such, nor should any information in this communication be relied upon in making any investment decision. 

Certification under the Climate Bond Standard only reflects the climate attributes of the use of proceeds of a designated debt instrument. It does not reflect the credit worthiness of the designated debt instrument, nor its compliance with national or international laws.

A decision to invest in anything is solely yours. The Climate Bonds Initiative accepts no liability of any kind, for any investment an individual or organisation makes, nor for any investment made by third parties on behalf of an individual or organisation, based in whole or in part on any information contained within this, or any other Climate Bonds Initiative public communication.

 

Our Top 5 EU Green Finance Developments: All starting to add up

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Europe is making significant strides to lead on green finance, and align its financial system with its climate, sustainability and clean energy ambitions.

 

The seminal COP22 in 2015, the 2016 G20 GFSG, the OECD Investing in Climate Investing in Growth report and the 2017 G19 Hamburg Climate & Energy Action Plan have provided ongoing momentum for policy moves towards a green financial system.

 

Here’s our pick of recent European developments:   

 

1. CMU mid-term review: Sustainability, an increasing priority

Improving Europe’s leadership on sustainable investment is one of the new priority initiatives of the Capital Markets Union (CMU) Mid-Term Review, released in early June. 

The CMU was launched in September 2015 as the EU’s flagship policy to better utilise capital markets to boost growth and investment across the continent. 

In plain English this means better connecting finance to real economy outcomes: jobs, sustainable development, infrastructure and prosperity.

The Commission proposes to start working on improved disclosure and integration of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria in ratings methodologies and supervisory processes, as part of the investment mandates of institutional investors and asset managers.

Significantly, it will also develop an approach to include sustainability considerations in all upcoming reviews of financial regulation, to ensure climate and environmental risks are addressed throughout the financial system, contributing to its stability.

In the CMU context, green debt securities are instrumental tools to freeing up capacity on banks’ balance sheets and favouring capital flows towards sustainable investments.

 

2. Expert Group on Sustainable Finance: Interim Report

The EU’s High Level Expert Group (HLEG) on Sustainable Finance launched their Interim Report in mid-July to great interest from the finance sector regulators and representatives of civil society and NGOs.

Stakeholder events in Brussels and London were packed.

Check out a short video (1.26secs) on the HLEG project!

 

 

Convened by the European Commission the Expert Group is tasked with developing a comprehensive strategy and a practical toolbox on sustainable finance to be fed into the CMU process.

Amongst the interim report’s most promising recommendations is one introducing an official European green bonds standard.

Have a look at our previous blog for details – and don’t forget to submit your feedback to the Expert Group: HLEG’s interim report is open for public input until September 20th.

The final recommendations from the Expert Group are due later this year, and the European Commission has committed announcing implementation decisions in Q1 2018.

 

3. Environmental performance disclosure proposals to boost green securitisation

The European Parliament’s proposal to disclose the environmental performance of securitised residential loans and car loans/leases has been accepted by the Commission and Council in an excellent boost for a green securitisation market in Europe.

As part of the measures for Simple, Transparent and Standardised Securitisation, the new feature will require issuers to disclose information, where available, on the environmental performance of underlying assets.

This could make it easier for issuers to identify eligible assets for green securitisation deals and boost the market in Europe.

Green securitisation doesn’t attract the high profile attention that other parts of the green finance landscape do, but it’s an important tool to unlock capital flows for smaller scale green assets that are crucial to the low-carbon transition such as energy-efficient buildings and electric vehicles.

The OECD estimates that EUR 77 billion (USD 84 billion) of green asset-backed securities could be issued annually, in the EU by 2035 just for renewable energy, energy efficiency and private electric vehicles alone.

So far, only Dutch lender Obvion has issued two climate-certified deals, spearheading the market.

Climate Bonds prepared a short policy brief on the potential of green securitisation. You can find it here.

 

4. Launch of European Green Securities Steering Committee

In June, the Climate Bonds Initiative and the European Covered Bonds Council (ECBC) launched an industry-wide EU Green Securities Steering Committee.

Representatives from European banks, investors and rating agencies will meet regularly to influence policy directions and implement action plans to help further the development of the green debt market across Europe.

The Committee’s priorities include:

  • Identifying regulatory and supervisory hurdles for green covered bonds, asset-backed securities and senior unsecured bonds, on both the issuer and investor side
  • Supporting common definitions for green at EU level
  • Exploring the potential of favourable capital treatment for green securities, guarantee options and loan packaging for energy efficiency

Coordination on the green debate is essential to achieve the European energy and climate goals.

The Committee will also serve to coordinate on several ongoing initiatives such as the Covered Bond Council’s recently launched Energy efficient Mortgages Action Plan (EeMAP).

 

5. New guidance on non-financial reporting requirements

At the end of June the Commission released updated guidelines on the disclosure environmental and social information.

The guidelines reflect most recent developments such as the work of the Financial Stability Board (FSB) Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD), which published its highly anticipated final report in June.

Disclosure and transparency are key elements of the green bond market, tying investors to projects on the ground, lowering risk factors.

Non-financial disclosure can help boost corporate transparency in a consistent and more comparable manner, educating and encouraging companies to embrace sustainability directions.

There’s more to come as asset owners and managers absorb the full importance of the recommendations on climate risk.

 

The Last Word

There is a tangible sense that a tipping point has been reached in the EU and that policymakers, business and civil society recognise that sustainable economic growth and market stability can only be achieved through a financial system that integrates long term climate, energy and employment goals.

This is finding expression in this raft of European policy measures, asset owner expectations around higher ESG standards and the gradual rise of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) many of which raise issues around sustainable capital allocation.

On top of these shifts, in July global leaders identified the need for green bond markets to scale up tenfold and reach USD 1 trillion by 2020 as part of six urgent milestones need to make a real impact on meeting carbon and climate goals.

This USD 1 trillion by 2020 figure will emerge as a defacto measure of the performance of global finance in meeting international climate and NDC investment goals.

Taking in the above perspective it’s certainly been a fast paced few months for green finance and green bond markets in Europe.

In hosting 4 of the 5 top issuers in the first half of 2017, and with Poland and France issuing sovereign green bonds, Europe’s market is well placed for rapid growth.

We look forward to the EU political institutions seeing these commitments through. In combination they take green finance policy in the direction each COP conference, the GFSG, OECD and countless other organisations and forums recommend.

 

‘Till next time,

Climate Bonds

 

 

Disclaimer: The information contained in this communication does not constitute investment advice in any form and the Climate Bonds Initiative is not an investment adviser.  Any reference to a financial organisation or debt instrument or investment product is for information purposes only. Links to external websites are for information purposes only. The Climate Bonds Initiative accepts no responsibility for content on external websites.

The Climate Bonds Initiative is not endorsing, recommending or advising on the financial merits or otherwise of any debt instrument or investment product and no information within this communication should be taken as such, nor should any information in this communication be relied upon in making any investment decision. 

Certification under the Climate Bond Standard only reflects the climate attributes of the use of proceeds of a designated debt instrument. It does not reflect the credit worthiness of the designated debt instrument, nor its compliance with national or international laws.

A decision to invest in anything is solely yours. The Climate Bonds Initiative accepts no liability of any kind, for any investment an individual or organisation makes, nor for any investment made by third parties on behalf of an individual or organisation, based in whole or in part on any information contained within this, or any other Climate Bonds Initiative public communication.

 

 


China, green bonds & emerging markets: leveraging private capital; opportunities along with the Belt & Road Initiative

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The global green bond market is growing rapidly – including emerging markets. From 2016 to date, about 35% of green bond issuance is from Emerging Markets! 

With 30% of total issuance last year, China has become the global market champion.

In Beijing yesterday, 500 people came together for the International Green Finance Forum, hosted by China’s Green Finance Committee.

One panel discussed green bond developments in emerging markets, and the opportunities for green bonds in China’s ambitious Belt & Road Initiative. Sean Kidney, CEO at Climate Bonds Initiative, moderated the session.

 

A lot is happening in emerging markets:

  • The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) released green bond guidelines in May. India has now issued USD4.5bn green bond with further USD10bn in the pipeline.
  • Nigeria, Kenya, and Argentina are planning to issue sovereign green bonds.
  • Corporate, bank and sub-national green bonds have been issued in the Philippines, Mexico, Peru, Brazil, Colombia, South Africa, Morocco, Argentina and Costa Rica.
  • The world’s first ‘green sukuk’ was recently issued in Malaysia, for RM250 million.
  • The ASEAN Capital Markets Forum of regulators is soon to announce green bond guidelines for the region.

 

Eugene Wong, Managing Director of Corporate Finance and Investments Business Group of Securities Commission Malaysia:

ASEAN needs USD110bn every year to build infrastructure, and we have made commitments to NDCs. We want to have a standard that identifies ‘true green’, and we will not allow fossil fuel projects to be included. We need to build things right upfront.

The Climate Bonds Initiative expects to see strong growth of green bonds in emerging markets.

 

Greening the Belt & Road

China’s Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) is also providing huge investment opportunities for (green) infrastructure projects. China’s President Xi has emphasised that the BRI needs to be 'green' and so green bonds are expected to become a feature of the financing packages for these projects in 2018.

ASEAN countries and other EMs along the Belt & Road can issue green bonds in/outside China to refinance their infrastructure. Chinese investors can also issue green bonds to leverage private capital to green infrastructure projects. With the Hong Kong-China Bond Connect Programme, Chinese green bond issuers can more easily attain cheaper capital from overseas investors.

Wang Sheng, Managing Director, Co-Head of Financial Institutions Group, HSBC:

“Overseas investors have high appetite for green investment, and some are dedicated to green bonds. Bond Connect provides great opportunities for them to access the domestic green bond market in China.”

 

However, for Chinese green bond issuers to attract overseas investors, some challenges still need to be addressed, including differences between China’s green definitions and internationally accepted green definitions, and lack of information on China’s green bond market.

Recommendations to address these issues have been discussed at the UK-China Green Finance Forum yesterday.

Green bonds provide a useful tool to mobilise private capital to meet the investment needs involved in building low carbon and climate resilient infrastructure.

The main challenge now is a paucity of investible projects; the bankable projects pipeline needs to improve.

 

The ADB and blended finance 

In a separate presentation at the Forum, Anouj Mehta of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) introduced their new blended finance “Green Finance Catalysing Facility” (GFCF).

The aim is to unlock and leverage private finance into bankable green projects by creating a pool of bankable green infrastructure projects, and making sure the projects pipeline is both environmentally and financially sustainable.

It will blend different sources of capital including concessional debt, private debt and equity, government grants, and funds raised via capital markets such as green bond markets. GFCF diversifies and reduces risks as it serves as a portfolio vehicle for a pool of green projects.

Anouj Mehta, Principle Financial Management Specialist, Asia Development Bank:

"Leverage and bankable projects are important. No public fund should be used if there is no leverage of private funds.”

 

As ADB is emphasising, leveraging private capital is critical to filling the expected infrastructure investment gap. Even though deal flow is thin at the moment, the expected investment needed for building low carbon and climate resilient infrastructure is USD90 trillion over the next 15 years.

The private sector is expected to contribute 50% of the investment gap, with this private sector percentage expected to be more like 80-90% in China. Green bonds can play an important role in mobilising institutional investors.  

 

Why Green Bonds?

  • High investor appetite
     
    “Green bond is an easy sale. Investors have high appetite though a lot of work needs to be done to educate issuers and scale up green bond issuance.”
    Benjamin Lamberg, Global Co-Head for Syndicate, Credit Agricole, CIB.

 

  • Diversified investor base and pricing benefits

    “We find that Chinese issuers attract new overseas investors every time, when they issue green bonds. Dedicated green bond investors are proactive to buy Chinese green bonds. We can see some pricing benefits of green bonds compared to normal bonds, although the pricing difference is small.”
    Wang Sheng, Managing Director, Co-Head of Financial Institutions Group, HSBC.

 

  • Transparency

    “Green bonds have more transparency on use of proceeds, and so are more attractive to international investors. They have become a preferred financial product by investors.”
    Ricco Zhang, Director, Asia Pacific, International Capital Market Association (ICMA).

 

  • Improving internal process, reputation and environmental benefits

“Issuing a green bond actually improves our internal process and optimise our operational system. And clearly it can raise our profile in the market. Issuing a green bond forces us to consider the environmental impacts we are going to bring. The goal of our green bonds programme is to maximise environmental benefits for society, which is beneficial to all market participants.”
Chen Yaqin, Director, Green Finance Department, China Industrial Bank.

 

Sean Kidney, CEO of Climate Bonds Initiative, summarised the session:

Our environmental challenges are huge. We need to fix climate change and environmental issues quickly for our children. To meet our Paris Climate Agreement targets we need to be ambitious on green standards — as ASEAN are being.

We need to learn as we are doing; we can’t wait for everything to be perfect. China is a good case study here. China Industrial Bank is one of the biggest green bond issuers in China. It is expecting to increase green bond issuance this year.

We expect to see around USD150bn in global green bonds issuance this year.

  

The Last Word

We’ll keep you up to date with more developments as the China green finance story unfolds.

Our latest list of every green bond issued in China from Jan to June 2017, download our China Mid-Year Update 2017.

Available in both English and Chinese.  点此阅读中文英文

 

‘Till next time,

Climate Bonds

Reporting by Lily Dai

 

Disclaimer: The information contained in this communication does not constitute investment advice in any form and the Climate Bonds Initiative is not an investment adviser.  Any reference to a financial organisation or debt instrument or investment product is for information purposes only. Links to external websites are for information purposes only. The Climate Bonds Initiative accepts no responsibility for content on external websites.

The Climate Bonds Initiative is not endorsing, recommending or advising on the financial merits or otherwise of any debt instrument or investment product and no information within this communication should be taken as such, nor should any information in this communication be relied upon in making any investment decision. 

Certification under the Climate Bond Standard only reflects the climate attributes of the use of proceeds of a designated debt instrument. It does not reflect the credit worthiness of the designated debt instrument, nor its compliance with national or international laws.

A decision to invest in anything is solely yours. The Climate Bonds Initiative accepts no liability of any kind, for any investment an individual or organisation makes, nor for any investment made by third parties on behalf of an individual or organisation, based in whole or in part on any information contained within this, or any other Climate Bonds Initiative public communication.

 

 

中国带动新兴市场绿色债券发展:撬动私人资本;一带一路所带来的机遇

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全球绿色债券市场正在迅速发展——包括新兴市场。事实上,从2016年到现在,35%的绿色债券发行来自新兴市场!中国发行了全球30%的绿色债券,成为市场领先者。

前日在北京,约500人参加了由绿金委举办的绿色金融国际研讨会。其中一个议程讨论了绿色债券在新兴市场的发展,以及中国一带一路为绿色债券带来的机遇。气候债券倡议组织首席执行官Sean Kidney 主持了该议程。
 
 
新兴市场绿色债券取得了一系列进展:
  • 印度的证券交易委员会(SEBI)在五月公布了绿色债券指引。印度至今已发行了45亿美元的绿色债券,另有100亿美元即将发行。
  • 尼日利亚、肯尼亚和阿根廷正在准备发行主权绿色债券。
  • 企业、银行和地方绿色债券在各国家包括菲律宾、墨西哥、秘鲁、哥伦比亚、南非、摩洛哥、阿根廷和哥斯达黎加发行。
  • 马来西亚发行了世界上第一只绿色伊斯兰债券 (green sukuk), 规模为2.5亿马来西亚令吉。
  • 由东盟国家监管机构组成的资本市场论坛即将公布东盟地区的绿色债券指引。
 
马来西亚证券监督委员会公司金融和投融资部董事总经理Eugene Wong 表示:东盟地区每年需要1,100亿美元用于建设基础设施,而且我们已经作出了完成国家自主贡献应对气候变化的承诺。我们想要一套能够识别真绿的标准,我们不会允许化石燃料项目包括在内。我们需要在最早期就将事情做对。
 
气候债券倡议组织期待新兴市场绿色债券的进一步强劲增长。同时,中国的一带一路也为(绿色)基础设施项目带来了巨大的投资机会。正如习主席所强调的,我们需要绿化一带一路,因此绿色债券将在2018年成为融资产品的亮点。
 
东盟国家及其他一带一路沿线新兴经济体国家可以在中国或其他地区发行绿色债券,用于基础设施的再融资。中国投资者也可以利用发行绿色债券撬动私人资本以支持绿色基础设施项目的发展。利用内地和香港债券通机制,中国绿色债券发行人可以更容易获得成本更低的海外资本。
 
汇丰银行董事总经理,中国区金融机构联席主管王生表示:海外投资者对绿色投资的兴趣很高,其中有一些专门投资绿色债券。债券通为他们进入中国在岸绿色债券市场提供了良好的机会。
 
然而,中国绿色债券发行人吸引海外投资者还需要解决一些挑战,包括中国绿色定义与国际普遍接受的绿色定义存在不一致、关于中国债券市场的信息不足等。在前一天举行的中英绿色金融论坛提出了应对建议,详情可参考2017年中英绿色金融工作组中期报告 (上一篇推送)
 
绿色债券为调动私人资本,满足建设低碳和气候适应型基础设施的投资需求。目前主要的挑战是缺乏可投资的项目;具有投资收益的项目管道应得到改善。
 
在另外一个议程上,亚洲开发银行Anouj Mehta 介绍了他们的创新工具绿色金融催化工具” (Green Finance Catalysing FacilityGCFC)GCFC的目标主要在于创造具有投资收益的绿色基础设施项目池,确保项目管道从环境和从财务上来看都是可持续的,致力于开放和撬动私人资本用于具有收益的绿色项目。GCFC将混合不同来源的资金,包括减让式债务、私人债务和股本、政府补助和通过资本市场如绿色债券市场募集的资金等,并作为投资组合工具为一系列绿色项目提供融资,分散和降低了风险。
 
亚洲开发银行首席财务管理专家Anouj Mehta表示:杠杆和具有投资收益的项目是很重要的。没有撬动私人资本的公共资金是不应该被使用的。
 
正如亚洲开发银行所强调的,撬动私人资本对填补将来的基础设施投资缺口是至关重要的。尽管在目前来说基础设施交易流还比较低,但未来15年里我们对低碳和气候适应型基础设施的投资需求可达到90万亿美元。预计私人资本可以填补50%的投资空缺,在中国,私人资本所占的比例可达到80%90%绿色债券在调动机构投资者的过程中起到了重要的角色。
 
为什么是绿色债券?
投资需求高
绿色债券销路很好,投资者对绿色债券的需求很高,尽管在发行人教育和扩大绿色债券发行方面我们还有很多工作要做。
——Benjamin Lamberg, 法国东方汇理银行(Credit Agricole, CIB)董事总经理
 
投资者基础多元化和价格优势
我们发现中资在海外发行绿债每次都能吸引到新的投资者。专注投资绿色债券的投资者会主动来买中国绿色债券。相较于普通债券,绿色债券的融资成本是有一部分下降的,虽然价差还不是很明显。
汇丰银行董事总经理,中国区金融机构联席主管王生。
 
透明度
绿色债券在资金使用方面的透明度更高,因此更吸引国际投资者。他们已成为投资者首选的金融产品。
张顺荣,国际资本市场协会 (ICMA)亚太区总监
 
优化业务流程体系,品牌效应和环境效益
发行绿色债券能够改善和优化我们的业务流程体系,当然它也可以提升品牌形象。发行绿色债券倒逼银行考虑其带来的环境影响。绿色债券最终是为了实现社会和环境效益的最大化,对所有市场参与方都有好处。
陈亚芹,兴业银行绿色金融部专业支持处处长。
 
兴业银行是中国最大的绿色债券发行人之一,预计在今年将增加其绿色债券发行。
 
气候债券倡议组织首席执行官Sean Kidney 对这一议程进行了总结:
我们面临的环境挑战是巨大的。为了下一代,我们需要快速解决气候变化和环境问题。
 
为了实现巴黎协议,我们必须像东盟国家一样对绿色标准的要求保持雄心。
 
我们应该边走边学;我们不能等到所有事情变得完美了之后再开始。中国就是一个很好的例子。
 
我们期待今年绿色债券的发行可以达到1500亿美元。
 
 
 
免责声明: 本文所提供的信息不构成任何投资建议,气候债券倡议组织并不是投资顾问。气候债券倡议组织并没未提供任何关于投资优缺点的建议。投资决定完全取决于投资者自身。气候债券倡议组织对任何个人或机构的任何投资以及代表任何个人或机构的第三方机构的任何投资概不负责。

Invitation: New York City, Bonds and Climate Change: the State of the Market 2017 - Monday 18/09: Global Launch

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Please join us at Climate Week in New York on Monday for the global launch of the State of the Market 2017 report, part of HSBC’s Sustainable Finance & Investing Responsibly Forum.  

During this event, Climate Bonds Initiative CEO Sean Kidney will present findings of the Climate Bonds influential ‘State of the Market 2017' report, the authoritative international annual review of green finance and green bond progress.

 

 

Invitation

Event: HSBC Sustainable Finance Day including global launch of ‘Bonds and Climate Change: the State of the Market in 2017’ report.

Where: HSBC Tower, Americas Room - Floor 11, 452 Fifth Ave, New York, NY 10018

When: Monday, September 18, 2017 @ 11:30 am - 5:00 pm, followed by cocktails

State of the Market Launch: 1:30 pm

Moderator: Michael Ridley PhD, Director Green Bonds & Corporate Credit Research HSBC

Speaker: Sean Kidney, CEO Climate Bonds Initiative

Registration: Here

 

Background

This will be HSBC’s third year hosting the 2-day Sustainable Financing & Investing Responsibly Forum event during Climate Week in New York.

A key highlight of the first day will see Climate Bonds Initiative CEO Sean Kidney presenting findings of the Report and discussing the climate-aligned bonds universe and the rise of labeled green bond issuance worldwide.

This is the 6th annual Bonds & Climate Change State of the Market Report from Climate Bonds Initiative, produced since 2012 with the long term support of HSBC and in particular the HSBC Climate Change Centre of Excellence.

 

The 2017 Report

  • Reviews the global green and climate aligned investment universe
  • Identifies key city based and regional market opportunities
  • Outlines the paths for investment markets to reach the $1trillion by 2020 green finance milestone

 

Don’t miss your chance to start Climate Week with a glimpse of the future in green finance.

Please register here.  

Be quick! Spaces are limited.

 

‘Till next time,

Climate Bonds

 

Disclosure: ‘Bonds and Climate Change: the state of the market in 2017’ report is commissioned by HSBC, who are also a Climate Bonds Partner. A full list of Partners can be found here.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this communication does not constitute investment advice in any form and the Climate Bonds Initiative is not an investment adviser.  Any reference to a financial organisation or debt instrument or investment product is for information purposes only. Links to external websites are for information purposes only. The Climate Bonds Initiative accepts no responsibility for content on external websites.

The Climate Bonds Initiative is not endorsing, recommending or advising on the financial merits or otherwise of any debt instrument or investment product and no information within this communication should be taken as such, nor should any information in this communication be relied upon in making any investment decision. 

Certification under the Climate Bond Standard only reflects the climate attributes of the use of proceeds of a designated debt instrument. It does not reflect the credit worthiness of the designated debt instrument, nor its compliance with national or international laws.

A decision to invest in anything is solely yours. The Climate Bonds Initiative accepts no liability of any kind, for any investment an individual or organisation makes, nor for any investment made by third parties on behalf of an individual or organisation, based in whole or in part on any information contained within this, or any other Climate Bonds Initiative public communication.

 

 

Three US Green Bonds Events you don’t want to miss: New York, New York & California

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Moody’s Municipal Infrastructure and Green Bonds; Environmental Finance & the Americas; California Green Bonds Symposium in Feb 2018.

Is the tide turning on US green finance?
 

At Climate Bonds we see the US as having huge potential for green bond issuance, particularly at the municipal and corporate level. The more discussion and debate around climate finance, infrastructure renewal and green growth, the better.

These three coming events have caught our eye and are worth sharing with readers.

 

1) Moody’s Decarbonizing Municipal Infrastructure Using Green Bonds

Wednesday, 20 September 2017

8:30 AM - 11:30 AM, New York

We think this has to be one of the go-to events during Climate Week NYC. It’s hosted by Moody’s Investors Service in partnership with us, so we may have a touch of bias.

Decarbonizing Municipal Infrastructure Using Green Bonds” will focus on the risks climate change is posing on local governments at both state and city levels and the need to invest in the low carbon economy. 

Speakers include our own Sean Kidney and Pat McCoy from multiple green bond issuer New York MTA.

Register here.

 

2) Environmental Finance Conference-Green Bonds Americas 2017

Monday, 23 October 2017

8:50 AM - 5:10 PM, New York

As we noted in our August Market Blog, it’s the third time round for Environmental Finance in holding this East Coast event. There’s a full day agenda, looking across the gamut of issues facing the US green bond market.  

We want to see many more tens of billions in green bonds from corporate America in the next three years as part of the push to reach $1trillion by 2020.

This conference has attracted some of the biggest names in US green finance, so we’re pleased to see growing the market features from the opening session onwards.

Due in just over a month, but don’t delay, register here.

 

3) California Treasurers Green Bond Symposium 2018

Tuesday and Wednesday, 27-28 February 2018

Santa Monica, CA

Hosted by John Chiang and coordinated by the Milken Institute and the doughty Environment Finance who are making an East-Coast West-Coast double for green bond events.

California has been leading the way on green bond issuance, with SFPUC and BART both issuing Climate Certified Bonds. In a hot tip for Blog readers, there’s more West Coast issuance in the pipeline.

Treasurer Chiang has been busy for some time with his own green finance plans, releasing ‘Growing the US Green Bond Market: Volume 1: The Barriers and Challenges’ in January 2017  in what we described at the time as:   

“A bold new move by America’s largest and most innovative state to lead on climate finance, green infrastructure funding and kick-start the US green bond market”.

He’s just penned this piece in the San Francisco Chronicle calling on corporate America to back the development of a huge and diverse green bond market to fund climate resilient infrastructure investment and reduce emissions.

We concur.

Registrations aren’t open yet, but more informationis here on the Treasurers website.  

So mark the dates: 27-28 February 2018, Santa Monica and keep an eye on the Environmental Finance website.

Take your pick Blog readers, any one of these three are worth your time.

 

‘Till next time

 

Climate Bonds

 

Disclosure: Several organisations named in this communication are Climate Bonds Partners. A full list of Partners can be found here.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this communication does not constitute investment advice in any form and the Climate Bonds Initiative is not an investment adviser.  Any reference to a financial organisation or debt instrument or investment product is for information purposes only. Links to external websites are for information purposes only. The Climate Bonds Initiative accepts no responsibility for content on external websites.

The Climate Bonds Initiative is not endorsing, recommending or advising on the financial merits or otherwise of any debt instrument or investment product and no information within this communication should be taken as such, nor should any information in this communication be relied upon in making any investment decision. 

Certification under the Climate Bond Standard only reflects the climate attributes of the use of proceeds of a designated debt instrument. It does not reflect the credit worthiness of the designated debt instrument, nor its compliance with national or international laws.

A decision to invest in anything is solely yours. The Climate Bonds Initiative accepts no liability of any kind, for any investment an individual or organisation makes, nor for any investment made by third parties on behalf of an individual or organisation, based in whole or in part on any information contained within this, or any other Climate Bonds Initiative public communication.

 

Mittwoch Nachmittag! Wien! Noch einige wenige Plätze zu vergeben für den grossen Green Bonds Kongress mit White & Case, Weber & Co. und Luxembourg Stock Exchange!

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Verpassen Sie nicht diese Gelengenheit, das Neueste aus dem Markt zu besprechen.

Sie sind herzlich eingeladen, am Climate Bonds – White & Case Green Bonds Kongress in Wien am Mittwoch Nachmittag 20. September teilzunehmen. Weber & Co. und Luxembourg Stock Exchange sind Co-organisatoren.

Der Tag verspricht eine gut gefüllte Tagesordnung, die mit einer Weinprobe ausklingt.

 

Details des Kongresses

Ort: Palais Hansen Kempinski Vienna, Schottenring 24, 1010 Wien

Zeit: 16-19h (CEST), Mittwoch, 20. September

Sprache: Präsentationen und Diskussionen werden auf Deutsch geführt

 

Verpassen Sie nicht diese Chance, andere Marktteilnehmer zu treffen.

Bitte Ihre Anwesenheit zu bestätigen bei Frau Lea Kuhn unter lea.kuhn@whitecase.com.

 

 

Bis bald,

Climate Bonds

 

 

Haftungsausschluss: Die in dieser Mitteilung enthaltenen Informationen stellen keine Anlageberatung dar, und die Climate Bonds Initiative ist kein Anlageberater. Links zu externen Websites dienen lediglich Informationszwecken. Climate Bonds Initiative übernimmt keine Verantwortung für den Inhalt externer Websites. Die Climate Bonds Initiative erteilt keine Beratung zu den Vor- oder Nachteilen einer Anlage. Die Climate Bonds Initiative übernimmt keinerlei Haftung für die Investitionen von Privatpersonen oder Organisationen oder für Investitionen, die von Dritten für Privatpersonen oder Organisationen getätigt werden. 

Climate Bonds State of the Market Report 2017: Green bonds & climate-aligned universe now stands at $895bn: Launch today at Climate Week NYC event

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Universe is growing, but plenty of headroom for banks and corporates to lift green issuance. Increasing focus on green city bonds, resilient infrastructure and alignment with national climate targets.

 

What’s it all about?

HSBC and the Climate Bonds Initiative have launched the 6th annual ‘Bonds and Climate Change: the State of the Market in 2017’ report at the HSBC Sustainable Finance and Investing Responsibly Briefing on the first day of Climate Week NYC.

Commissioned by HSBC and produced by the Climate Bonds Initiative, the State of the Market has become the authoritative international analysis of both the labelled green bond and ‘climate-aligned’ bond universe.

The Report quantifies all bonds where use of proceeds finance low carbon and climate resilient infrastructure. It examines bonds that finance investments compatible with a 2-degree transition path, rather than investments that are marginally environmentally beneficial.

This takes a cue from the Paris COP21 Agreement that investments should be in line with the emissions reduction trajectory needed to achieve a rapid transition to a sub-2-degree Celsius world.

 

The headline numbers

This year’s dataset includes all climate-aligned and green bonds issued after 1st January 2005 and before 30th June 2017.

A total of 3,493 bonds from 1,128 issuers across seven climate themes (transport, energy, multi-sector, water, buildings and industry, waste and pollution, agriculture and forestry) have been analysed in the report.

The climate-aligned bond universe now stands at $895bn outstanding - A jump of $201bn from the 2016 figure. This total is comprised of unlabelled climate-aligned bonds at $674bn and labelled green bonds at $221bn.

While $895bn provides a good picture of current climate-aligned investment in the bond market, it does not show the full potential for labelled green bond market growth.

Labelled green bonds are primarily issued by diversified companies, whereas the unlabelled portion of the climate-aligned universe is mostly pure-play issuers.

The labelling of more climate aligned bonds as green bonds by pure-play issuers is an essential step to the shifting of capital flows, in this case fixed income investment, towards climate change solutions.

 

Green and Climate Aligned - What’s the difference?

Labelled green bonds: Bonds labelled as ‘green’ by the issuer and are financing green assets and projects and form the basis of green indices.

Climate-aligned bonds: This label is increasingly used to refer to bonds that are financing green/climate assets that help enable a low carbon economy, but have not been labelled as ‘green’ by the issuing entity.

 

Focus on cities and green infrastructure

The 2017 report has a particular focus on cities with ten case studies identifying existing best practice green city bonds issuance along with opportunities for new city based green bond issuance.

Bonds are a key tool to finance climate resilient urban infrastructure. 

 

Key findings: Overall Universe

  • The climate-aligned bond universe now stands at $895bn outstanding - A jump of $201bn from the 2016 figure. This total is comprised of unlabelled climate-aligned bonds at $674bn and labelled green bonds at $221bn.
     
  • The $201bn increase on 2016 includes $138bn in new bonds from existing issuers, plus $144bn from new issuers minus $81bn of matured bonds and issuers that no longer meet our climate-aligned criteria.
     
  • In the climate-aligned bond universe, the Chinese RMB is the dominant currency (with 32% of the total amount outstanding), followed by the US dollar (26%) and the Euro (20%).
     
  • 43% of the universe meets basic investment parameters. The majority of bonds have tenors of 10 years or more and are also government-backed.
     
  • Low carbon transport was the largest single sector, accounting for $544bn (61%) of the total $895bn climate aligned universe, followed by clean energy at $173.4bn (19%).
     
  • Building and Industry, Agriculture and Forestry, Waste and Pollution, Water comprise 7% and Multi-Sector bonds are at 13% up from the 2016 figure of 8.2%, a small but welcome pointer towards more diversity in issuance.

 

Key Findings: Green Bonds

  • The largest labelled green bond issuers in descending order are Supranationals, USA, China, France, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, Canada, Australia, India and Brazil.
     
  • New York City is amongst the largest sub-sovereign bond issuers in the U.S. The city has shown leadership in supporting best practice with both the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and NYC Housing Development Corporation issuing Climate Bonds Certified green bonds.
     
  • Globally, Development Banks are the largest green issuers with EIB, KfW and World Bank in the top three positions. (See Table 1)
     
  • Issuance from corporates and commercial banks has grown, but demand from institutional investors continues to outstrip supply.

 

There is significant headroom for higher quality green issuance particularly from banks and corporates. Increasing bank based and corporate issuance is now a vital component in meeting climate finance targets & country climate plans.

 

Cities and Climate Change

70% of global greenhouse gas emissions come from cities, and many of the world’s most populated cities sit on coastlines, rivers and flood plains. For this reason, they are particularly vulnerable to negative impacts from a changing climate.

The report includes 10 city-based case studies analysing 5 that have successfully issued green bonds: New York, Gothenburg, Wuhan, Hong Kong and Cape Town; and 5 potential green issuers: Amsterdam, Mumbai, Tokyo, Lagos and Medellín.

 

Green City Issuer: New York City

The city has shown leadership in supporting best practice and potential for future issuance is substantial. New York is a frequent issuer with total issuance since 2012 exceeding $10bn. The planned and current climate infrastructure projects include $1.7bn for subway expansion and $315mn for wastewater adaptation.

 

Green City Issuer: Cape Town

Cape Town issued its first green bond in July 2017, a ZAR1bn ($76mn) certified Climate Bond; the first certified green bond for South Africa, and the second South African city green bond after Johannesburg in 2014. Proceeds are supporting transportation, energy efficiency, wastewater, and coastal resilience projects.

 

Potential Green Issuer: Lagos

Lagos is one of the world’s fastest growing megacities, and an economic powerhouse in West Africa. As a waterfront city with a unique set of planning and adaptation challenges, Lagos could benefit significantly from city green bond issuance across a number of sectors, which have been identified as priority areas in the Lagos State Development Plan.

 

Potential Green Issuer: Tokyo

Japan is home to the world’s second largest bond market. In February 2017, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) published a ‘Green Bonds Issuance Policy’ as part of a larger constellation of environmental goal setting, establishing a path to a greener city as Tokyo revamps its infrastructure for the 2020 Olympics.

 

Who’s saying what?

Zoe Knight Managing Director, Group Head, HSBC Centre of Sustainable Finance:

“The report demonstrates the increasing role of sub sovereigns, and cities in the financing of climate and emissions goals. We need to accelerate sustainable opportunities for long term investment to help meet these goals. More green and climate aligned bond issuance will improve capital allocation, create market depth and help drive the climate outcomes we are all looking for.”

 

Sean Kidney, Climate Bonds CEO:  

“We’re making a start on green finance. But banks, corporates and governments have to be working much more closely with cities to fund climate resilient infrastructure. They must increasingly align their investments with country climate plans and build economic resilience to deal with the climate impacts to come. This also means increasing linkages with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) as a vital part of the transition we face.”

 

Table 1: Largest Green Bond issuers to date:

 

 

Green Bond Issuer

Amount- USD

Issuer Type

Country

EIB

$22.6bn

Development Bank

Supranational

KfW

$12.8bn

Development Bank

Supranational

World Bank

$10.6bn

Development Bank

Supranational

SPD Bank

$7.6bn

Commercial Bank

China

Republic of France

$7.6bn

Sovereign

France

Iberdrola

$5.6bn

Corporate

Spain

TenneT Holdings

$5.5bn

Corporate

Netherlands

EDF

$5.3bn

Corporate

France

IFC

$5.3bn

Development Bank

Supranational

Engie

$5.1bn

Corporate

France

 

 

The Last Word

As we’ve noted, the climate-aligned bond universe now stands at $895bn outstanding – up by $201bn from the 2016 figure. The total is comprised of unlabelled climate-aligned bonds at $674bn and labelled green bonds at $221bn.

While $895bn provides a good picture of current climate-aligned investment in the bond market, it does not show the full potential for labelled green bond market growth.

Labelled green bonds are primarily issued by diversified companies whereas the unlabelled portion of the climate-aligned universe is mostly pure-play issuers.

More green issuance, particularly from banks and corporates, together with more labelling of green bonds is essential.

The need to shift more fixed income investment towards climate change solutions is growing, as is the need to increase alignment with the emerging city, sub sovereign and national plans aimed at meeting Paris NDC commitments.

The milestone of $1trillion in green finance by 2020, including a ten-fold increase in green bond issuance, has been set by global climate leaders.  The demand is there. Internationalasset owners and managers in variousinvestor statements have increasingly said they want more quality sustainable and green investable product. 

In the context of a global bond market valued at around $100 trillion, this $1trillion milestone for 2020 is very achievable. 

Global finance, including the banking sector, asset managers, big corporates and sub sovereigns have just over three years and four COP conferences to reach it.

 

 

'Till next time,

Climate Bonds

 

Disclosure: ‘Bonds and Climate Change: the state of the market in 2017’ report is produced on an annual basis and commissioned by HSBC. This is the 6th annual report. Previous reports can be found hereHSBC are also a Climate Bonds Partner. A full list of Partners can be found here.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this communication does not constitute investment advice in any form and the Climate Bonds Initiative is not an investment adviser.  Any reference to a financial organisation or debt instrument or investment product is for information purposes only. Links to external websites are for information purposes only. The Climate Bonds Initiative accepts no responsibility for content on external websites.

The Climate Bonds Initiative is not endorsing, recommending or advising on the financial merits or otherwise of any debt instrument or investment product and no information within this communication should be taken as such, nor should any information in this communication be relied upon in making any investment decision. 

Certification under the Climate Bond Standard only reflects the climate attributes of the use of proceeds of a designated debt instrument. It does not reflect the credit worthiness of the designated debt instrument, nor its compliance with national or international laws.

A decision to invest in anything is solely yours. The Climate Bonds Initiative accepts no liability of any kind, for any investment an individual or organisation makes, nor for any investment made by third parties on behalf of an individual or organisation, based in whole or in part on any information contained within this, or any other Climate Bonds Initiative public communication.

 

In London on October 2nd? Invitation: South Korean Green Bond Market Briefing – Don’t miss it!

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On 2nd October, we will hold a briefing to discuss opportunities for growth and developments of the green bond market in South Korea as they just announced a new corporate green bond.

 

You’re invited.

Please register here. 

 

Hosted by Amec Foster Wheeler, this event is a discussion for underwriters and investors with SK Securities' Kwangyul Peck.

SK is South Korea's third largest industrial group after Samsung and Hyundai. Kwangyul is also an advisor to the Korea's Ministry of Strategy & Finance which manages the Korean Emissions Trading Scheme (the world's second biggest ETS with a carbon price of over $20 per ton).

Just today, Hanjin International Corporation announced a $300m green bond to be closed on Thursday, 28th. This June, the Korea Development Bank (KDB) also issued USD300m in green bonds, following Hyundai USD500m in March 2016, and KEXIM’s 2016 and 2013 green bonds.

President Moon's new administration is very supportive of green investments and is looking to put in place several policy measures to invigorate the growth of a South Korean green bond market, including increasing renewable power generation from 5% to 30%.
 

Agenda, 17.30-19.00

17.30 Welcome and Introduction from Amec Foster Wheeler 

17.40 Presentation by Kwangyul Peck on South Korea green finance opportunities 

18.00 Overview of Global and Asian Green Bond Markets by Sean Kidney, Climate Bonds Initiative CEO

18.10 Q&A 

18.30 Closing remarks from Amec Foster Wheeler 

18.40 Close & networking 

 

We invite you to join us and SK Securities' Kwangyul Peck at Amec Foster Wheeler to discuss the current potential for South Korean green bonds. 

Please register here. 

 

We hope to see you there.

거기에서 보자!

 

‘Till next time,

Climate Bonds

 

 

Disclaimer: The information contained in this communication does not constitute investment advice in any form and the Climate Bonds Initiative is not an investment adviser.  Any reference to a financial organisation or debt instrument or investment product is for information purposes only. Links to external websites are for information purposes only. The Climate Bonds Initiative accepts no responsibility for content on external websites.

The Climate Bonds Initiative is not endorsing, recommending or advising on the financial merits or otherwise of any debt instrument or investment product and no information within this communication should be taken as such, nor should any information in this communication be relied upon in making any investment decision. 

Certification under the Climate Bond Standard only reflects the climate attributes of the use of proceeds of a designated debt instrument. It does not reflect the credit worthiness of the designated debt instrument, nor its compliance with national or international laws.

A decision to invest in anything is solely yours. The Climate Bonds Initiative accepts no liability of any kind, for any investment an individual or organisation makes, nor for any investment made by third parties on behalf of an individual or organisation, based in whole or in part on any information contained within this, or any other Climate Bonds Initiative public communication.

Tags: 

Breaking! World’s biggest bank issues Climate Bonds Certified Green Bond: One Belt One Road Green Climate Bond from ICBC: Just Announced!

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中国工商银行将发行获气候债券标准认证的绿色债券

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) just announced a big green bond.

And it's Climate Bonds Certified. 

 

We’ve long said that as China got moving on green finance, big things would start to happen.

You don’t get any bigger than ICBC in the banking world. Or anywhere else. ICBC is also the biggest publicly listed company on the planet.

So...this inaugural One Belt One Road (OBOR) Green Climate Bond that also carries Climate Bonds Certification will have its own ‘big’ impact.

The use of proceeds for this bond will be dedicated to ICBC's global financing and refinancing of eligible green assets in four categories:

  • renewable energy,
  • low carbon & low emission transportation,
  • energy efficiency &
  • sustainable water resources management.

 

Green Assets on the Lux Green Exchange

The announcement of the inaugural issuance has been made during the Beijing visit of a delegation headed by Pierre Gramegna, Minister of Finance of Luxembourg.  

The bond will be listed on the Luxembourg Green Exchange (LGX) of the LUXSE. The LGX is not letting any grass grow under its feet in the green finance race, listing $74bn of green bonds in its first year of operation.

 

Greening the Belt and Road

We touched on this subject in our September 6th Blog Post on the annual Green Finance Forum in Beijing hosted by China’s Green Finance Committee. We just didn’t think we’d be writing about a One Belt One Road Green Climate Bond so soon.

ICBC is the largest green bond underwriting bank in China, so we’re also pleased to see in today’s announcement noted that:

“ICBC officials said that the bank will push green credit business as a long-term development strategy, actively practice the "green development" and "green finance" concept and has committed to building into a leading green credit bank internationally with a good reputation.”

Looks like there's more to come on the green finance front from the world's biggest bank.

 

$130 billion in 2017, $1 trillion by 2020

This signal from ICBC should jolt other global banks and corporates to move faster on green finance and issue green bonds.

The demand is there, investors stand ready and NDC based country climate plans need finance. There's plenty of headroom left to reach Climate Bonds forecast of $130bn in green issuance for 2017 and three years to reach the increasingly high profile $1 trillion by 2020 global green finance milestone

 

The Last Word

More details will come once pricing closes on Friday.

In the meantime, you can see every green bond issued in China from Jan to June this year in our recent China Mid Year Market Report 2017中国绿色债券市场半年报 2017. We’re preparing our Q3 update right now, the list of bonds just got bigger.

Or ponder the newsvia Twitter from Christiana Figueres’ Tuesday address to the PRI in Person conference in Berlin: China will be announcing a national carbon price by the end of 2017, likely $5/tonne.

As China gets moving….

 

‘Till next time,

 

Climate Bonds

 

 

Disclaimer: The information contained in this communication does not constitute investment advice in any form and the Climate Bonds Initiative is not an investment adviser.  Any reference to a financial organisation or debt instrument or investment product is for information purposes only. Links to external websites are for information purposes only. The Climate Bonds Initiative accepts no responsibility for content on external websites.

The Climate Bonds Initiative is not endorsing, recommending or advising on the financial merits or otherwise of any debt instrument or investment product and no information within this communication should be taken as such, nor should any information in this communication be relied upon in making any investment decision. 

Certification under the Climate Bond Standard only reflects the climate attributes of the use of proceeds of a designated debt instrument. It does not reflect the credit worthiness of the designated debt instrument, nor its compliance with national or international laws.

A decision to invest in anything is solely yours. The Climate Bonds Initiative accepts no liability of any kind, for any investment an individual or organisation makes, nor for any investment made by third parties on behalf of an individual or organisation, based in whole or in part on any information contained within this, or any other Climate Bonds Initiative public communication.

 

 

全球最大银行中国工商银行将发行获气候债券标准认证的绿色债券

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中国绿色债券市场正在迅速发展。中国工商银行即将在市场上发行的绿色债券,无论从发行人或发行金额来看,都堪称是重量级的绿色债券。

ICBC: World’s biggest bank issues Climate Bonds Certified Green Bond: English Version

全球最大银行中国工商银行将会发行其首单绿色债券。由工行卢森堡分行代理总行发行的这只"一带一路"绿色气候债券,获得气候债券标准认证。债券发行将会为环境带来正面影响。

工行本次发行绿色债券,募资资金将用于支持该行全球范围内已经投放或未来即将投放的四类合格绿色信贷项目,包括:

-可再生能源

-低碳及低排放交通

-能源效率

-可持续水资源管理

在卢森堡发行首只绿色债券

2017年9月26日,在卢森堡财政部长皮埃尔•格拉美亚带领的访华代表团北京站活动上,工行卢森堡分行宣布了发行首只"一带一路"绿色气候债券的消息。这只债券将于在卢森堡证券交易所的“环保金融交易所”(LGX)专门板块挂牌上市。LGX一直积极推动绿色金融发展,在其运营的首年,已有740亿美元的绿色债券在该交易所挂牌。

绿色一带一路

早在发行这只“一带一路”绿色气候债券之前,工行一直活跃参与绿色债券承销活动,2016年成为国内最大绿色债券承销银行。工行相关负责人在公告中表示,“我行将推进绿色信贷建设作为一项长期发展战略,积极践行 ‘绿色发展’ 和 ‘绿色金融’ 理念,致力于构建国际领先的绿色信贷银行和具有良好国际声誉的绿色银行。”

这发出了清晰的讯号:作为全球最大银行,中国工商银行将有更多支持绿色金融的举措出台。 

2020年目标绿色债券发行规模达到1万亿美元

我们相信,工行本次发债,有望鼓励到全球更多其他大型银行及企业加快发展绿色金融及发行绿色债券的脚步。事实上,国际投资者对绿色债券存在大量需求,而提交了国家自主贡献(Nationally Determined Contribution, NDC)的各国,在推行应对气候变化的计划也需要金融支持。

全球绿色债券市场的未来发展空间庞大,气候债券倡议组织预期,2017年全年绿色债券发行规模为1300亿美元;3年后,到2020年,全球每年绿色债券发行金额将达到1万亿元的里程碑。

结语

当工行这只绿色债券完成定价程序后,我们将及时提供更多有关于本次债券发行的信息。期间,读者们可以参考我们早前发布的《中国绿色债券市场半年报 2017》,以了解更多全球最大绿色债券市场的动向。

我们正在筹备第三季中国绿色债券市场季报,期内绿色债券发行规模将进一步增加。

An English Version available here

敬请期待下一次更新!

 

气候债券倡议组织

 

免责声明: 本文所提供的信息不构成任何投资建议,气候债券倡议组织并不是投资顾问。气候债券倡议组织并没未提供任何关于投资优缺点的建议。投资决定完全取决于投资者自身。气候债券倡议组织对任何个人或机构的任何投资以及代表任何个人或机构的第三方机构的任何投资概不负责

 

Eleven different cities from north to south, west to east in our October agenda: London, Paris, Frankfurt, Hong Kong & Taipei, São Paulo, Rio, and more!

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Come find us in London at the Brazilian Embassy, in Ukraine at the Kyiv International Economic Forum, in Rio de Janeiro at the Brazil International Renewable Energy Congress, or in Taipei at the UK Taiwan Offshore Wind Seminar... 

 

In October, we are many and restless.

Find some time to have a coffee with a Climate Bonds rep at one of the events below:

When?

Where?

Who?

What?

2nd October

London

 Sean Kidney

Moderating ‘Building a New Economy in Brazil through Green Finance’ Event at the Brazilian Embassy

2nd October

London

Sean Kidney

Presenting Kwangyul Peck from SK Securities at the ‘Opportunities for South Korean Green Bond Issuance’ discussion, hosted by Amec Foster Wheeler

2nd October

London

Serena Vento

Participating in the ‘Opportunities for South Korean Private and Public Sector Green Bond Issuance’ hosted by Amec Foster Wheeler

3rd October

London

Sean Kidney

Presenting at London Green Bonds Breakfast Discussion, hosted by Willis Towers Watson

3rd October

London

Serena Vento

Participating in the London Green Bonds Breakfast Discussion, hosted by Willis Towers Watson

3rd October

Paris

Diletta Giuliani

Participating in a workshop on Common Risk Mitigation Mechanism (CRMM), organised by TWI, the World Bank Group, the TCX, the Council on Energy, CEEW and CII

3rd-5th October

Kyiv

Manuel Adamini

Meeting Ukraine market players & government representatives

4th October

São Paulo

Justine Leigh-Bell

Moderating the launch of Bonds and Climate Change: The State of the Market in 2017 - Brazil Edition

4th-5th October

Brussels

Sean Kidney

Participating in the EU High-Level Expert Group (HLEG) on Sustainable Finance

5th October

Kyiv

Manuel Adamini

Presenting and moderating at the Kyiv International Economic Forum

12th October

Washington DC

Sean Kidney

Speaking at the Greening the Financial System: Exploring the Ways Forward event

16th October

Washington DC

Sean Kidney

Speaking at the Sustainable Banking Network Conference

17th October

Hong Kong

Serena Vento

Ivy Lau

Conducting stakeholder consultations on green finance and greenbond market developments

17th October

Frankfurt

Manuel Adamini

Presenting and moderating at Double Dividend Seminar

18th October

Paris

Manuel Adamini

Participating in half-day client training session with our partner Novethic

18th -20th October

Taipei

Serena Vento

Participating in a roundtable organised by the Financial Supervisory Commission of Taiwan with representatives of Taiwanese financial services industry

19th October

Taipei

Serena Vento

Participating in a green finance forum at the UK Taiwan Offshore Wind Seminar organised jointly with the Taiwanese Ministry of Economic Affairs

19th October

Paris

Sean Kidney

Speaking at the Paris launch of Bonds and Climate Change: The State of the Market in 2017 Report, sponsored by HSBC

23rd October

Frankfurt

Manuel Adamini

Attending the First Sustainable Finance Gipfel Germany

24th-25th October

Paris

Sean Kidney

Speaking at the 4th OECD Green Investment Financing Forum (GIFF)

25th October

Rio de Janeiro

Thatyanne Gasparotto

Speaking at the Brazil International Renewable Energy Congress (BIREC)

30th October

London

Sean Kidney

Speaking at the Information Management Network (IMN) First Annual Investors’ Conference on Green Bonds

31st October

London

Sean Kidney

Speaking at the 2nd Africa Impact Investing Leaders Forum 2017

 

On the 4th October we will launch the Brazil edition of our Bonds and Climate Change: State of the Market in 2017 Report, in São Paulo.

The French launch will take place in Paris on the 19th October.

You can read our Blog summarising the State of the Market 2017 Report here.
 

Check out the next generation of green finance advocates on our YouTube channel: 

   Camille in English

  Maria en español

  Diletta in italiano

  Camille en français

 

‘Till next time,

Climate Bonds

 

Disclaimer: The information contained in this communication does not constitute investment advice in any form and the Climate Bonds Initiative is not an investment adviser. Any reference to a financial organisation or debt instrument or investment product is for information purposes only. Links to external websites are for information purposes only. The Climate Bonds Initiative accepts no responsibility for content on external websites.
The Climate Bonds Initiative is not endorsing, recommending or advising on the financial merits or otherwise of any debt instrument or investment product and no information within this communication should be taken as such, nor should any information in this communication be relied upon in making any investment decision.
Certification under the Climate Bond Standard only reflects the climate attributes of the use of proceeds of a designated debt instrument. It does not reflect the credit worthiness of the designated debt instrument, nor its compliance with national or international laws.
A decision to invest in anything is solely yours. The Climate Bonds Initiative accepts no liability of any kind, for any investment an individual or organisation makes, nor for any investment made by third parties on behalf of an individual or organisation, based in whole or in part on any information contained within this, or any other Climate Bonds Initiative public communication.

 

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Global green bonds overtake 2016 total: $83bn on 28th Sept: Now in sight of our $130bn by December 31st forecast

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Late September news to celebrate! Green bond issuance in 2017 has just reached $83bn as of yesterday.

 

What’s it all about?

The record 2016 green bonds total of USD81.6bn has been surpassed. As at 28th September, USD83bn in green bonds have closed.

Ninety four (94) days left to reach our longstanding $130bn forecast for 2017.

Latest green issuance from New York MTA, New York State Housing Finance Agency, Engie and the EIB have tipped us over the 2016 line.

 

At a Glance - Growth since 2015 

 

The late September movers 

New York MTA have just finalised their latest USD662m Climate Bonds Certified green bond, with Sustainalytics providing verification.

MTA is one of the large issuers who have adopted our streamlined Programmatic Certification process for green issuance.

This is their 6th green bond since February 2016, for a cumulative total of USD3.4bn.

 

New York State Housing Finance Agency is another large issuer to use the Programmatic Certification process.

Their latest is a USD40.9m Climate Bonds Certified green bond under the Low Carbon Buildings Criteria.

This is HFA’s 5th green bond, totalling USD275m since December 2016.

 

On the 28thEngie closed a EUR1.25bn (USD1.5bn) green bond. It’s their second for 2017 and third issued since 2014, for a total of USD6.6bn.

Vigeo EIRIS provided the second opinion.

 

The EIB re-opened their August 2017 Climate Awareness bond on the 28th adding AUD200m to the original AUD125m issuance.

 

Here’s a peek at all the Top 3’s for 2017 to date

Top 3 Issuers (amount issued):

  • Republic of France: $7.5bn
  • EIB: $4.6bn
  • Mexico City Airport: $4bn​

Top 4 issuers (number of deals**)

  • EIB: 5
  • Fabege: 5
  • New York State Housing Finance Agency: 4
  • New York MTA: 4

Top 3 nations:

  • France: $14.7bn
  • China: $12.2bn
  • USA: $11.7bn

Top 3 issuer types:

  • Corporates: $30.4bn
  • Development banks: $14.4bn
  • Commercial banks: $12.1bn

 

At a Glance-Growth since Jan 2013 & the $130bn 2017 target 

 

 

$130bn by Dec 31st?

Our State of the Market Report 2017– just released at Climate Week NYC – detailed global issuance up to 31st June and we reiterated our earlier $130bn forecast for 2017.

There’s still plenty of headroom for banks and corporates to increase their green issuance.

At this week’s PRIinPerson Berlin conference Christiana Figueres issued a challenge to institutional investors worth $70tn in AUM to lift green investment between now and 2020.

With USD70 trillion in their pockets, such a group should be able to generate a mere $47bn of new green issuance by Christmas. 

 

The Last Word

You’ll hear more from us on all the highs and lows of Q3 in early October. And watch this space for the next Market Blog, coming soon.

Just to note – different organisations have different methods for calculating totals for 2016 – ranging between $80 and $90bn. Hence, the public reporting varies.

Climate Bonds Initiative regular reporting only includes green bonds (not ‘social’ or ‘sustainability’ bonds) that fit inside our rigorous definitions and Taxonomy, around what constitutes a green bond and where we’ve been able to find sufficient documentation to make a reasonable assessment.

Our figures may not be the largest, but they’re the greenest.

 

‘Till next time,

Climate Bonds

 

 

**not including new taps of existing bonds or multiple tranches of the same deal

 

Disclaimer: The information contained in this communication does not constitute investment advice in any form and the Climate Bonds Initiative is not an investment adviser.  Any reference to a financial organisation or debt instrument or investment product is for information purposes only. Links to external websites are for information purposes only. The Climate Bonds Initiative accepts no responsibility for content on external websites.

The Climate Bonds Initiative is not endorsing, recommending or advising on the financial merits or otherwise of any debt instrument or investment product and no information within this communication should be taken as such, nor should any information in this communication be relied upon in making any investment decision. 

Certification under the Climate Bond Standard only reflects the climate attributes of the use of proceeds of a designated debt instrument. It does not reflect the credit worthiness of the designated debt instrument, nor its compliance with national or international laws.

A decision to invest in anything is solely yours. The Climate Bonds Initiative accepts no liability of any kind, for any investment an individual or organisation makes, nor for any investment made by third parties on behalf of an individual or organisation, based in whole or in part on any information contained within this, or any other Climate Bonds Initiative public communication.

IREDA USD300m green masala bond launch at LSE: Climate Bonds Certified!

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Masala is back and IREDA kicks up the appetite with a Climate Bonds Certified green bond

 

What’s it all about?

Hot on the heels of the 22nd September Reserve Bank of India announcementseparating out masala bonds from the Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) limit, the Indian Renewable Energy Agency (IREDA) has issued a Climate Bonds Certified Masala Green Bond worth USD300 million (INR19.5 billion) via a five-year paper.

The announcement was made today at the bond launch on the London Stock Exchange, attended by Mr. Kuljit Singh Popli Chairman and Managing Director of IREDA, Shri Anand Kumar Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, and Jo Johnson MP Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation.

Proceeds of the Certified Climate Bond will go towards financing renewable energy projects across India.  

The bond will be dual listed on both LSE and SGX.

 

More Masala

First Green Masala Bond by a Financial Institution: IREDA’s masala bond is the first green Climate Bonds Certified and Investment Grade rated bond by a financial institution.

Tightest yield in 2017 for Masala Bonds: The deal achieved the tightest ever yield in a public masala issuance. The issuance is marked at a coupon of 7.125 percent and a reoffer yield of 7.23 percent annualised. It attracted strong participation from funds and asset managers to give a tightening of 7bps from the initial price guidance.

Highest Masala Order Book Size in 2017: The bond was oversubscribed at 1.74x across 49 accounts - the highest in the masala space in 2017. This helped converge the masala and onshore pricing at a total cost flat to IREDA’s onshore levels.

First green Masala bond on London Stock Exchange’s new International Securities Market (ISM). 

The bond saw a distribution of 66% to Asia and 34% to Europe. Funds and insurance companies formed the bulk of investors (62%) and the rest was divided between public and private banks (32% and 8% respectively).

 

Who’s saying what?

Mr. Kuljit Singh Popli, Chairman and Managing Director of Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA):

“IREDA is fully committed to helping achieve Indian Government’s vision of 175 GW renewable energy capacity by 2022. The Green Masala Bond is a significant milestone for IREDA in this regard, as we embark on the next phase of renewable and sustainable energy led expansion. This is another step towards our Honourable Prime Minister’s commitment to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.”

Shri Anand Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy:

“The IREDA Green Masala bond illustrates Government of India’s commitment towards fostering the renewable and sustainable energy sector. Renewable energy will increasingly become the dominant force in energy generation, as we strive for ‘’Electricity for All” and achieve our mandate of 175GW renewable energy capacity by 2022.”

 

A closer look into the Masala space

Issuances through Masala Bonds (bonds issued offshore by domestic companies but denominated in the Indian currency) have been lapped up by the market as investor’s acceptance for INR risks grows.

In July 2017, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, the securities market regulator, had imposed a moratorium on masala issuances until FPI utilisation of debt limits fell below 92%.

However, at a time when corporates in India are trying to diversify their funding sources, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) moratorium was felt to be deflating for the bond market (at least in the medium term). Bank lending in India has dropped drastically on account of high non-performing assets on banks’ balance sheets.

With the shifting out of masala bonds from the FPI space, large, high rated issuers are most likely to get active again. RBI’s restrictions on spreads, tenor and size of issuance will keep small low investment grade issuers out of the market.

Despite their willingness to keep an active oversight on this nascent market, regulators have been working towards increasing attractiveness of masala bonds to Indian issuers. IREDA’s issuance has tapped the latent appetite for masala bonds within a week of RBI providing it more room. 

 

The Last Word

India’s green bond market is expanding fast, currently ranking among the top 12 green bond markets worldwide in our recent State of the Market 2017 Report. 

Indian green bond issuers have been amongst the pioneers of Climate Bond Certification and IREDA is maintaining this trend towards best practice in disclosure and transparency on use of proceeds.

Listing on the prestigious London Stock Exchange with its support for green bond market development gives a fillip to London and the UK’s wider efforts to position the capital as the green finance and green hub race amongst far sighted citiesspeeds up.

This issuance will also act as a demonstration kick starter, expect more masala issuances in the next few months.

Keep your eyes open!

 

‘Till next time,

Climate Bonds

 

Disclaimer: The information contained in this communication does not constitute investment advice in any form and the Climate Bonds Initiative is not an investment adviser.  Any reference to a financial organisation or debt instrument or investment product is for information purposes only. Links to external websites are for information purposes only. The Climate Bonds Initiative accepts no responsibility for content on external websites.

The Climate Bonds Initiative is not endorsing, recommending or advising on the financial merits or otherwise of any debt instrument or investment product and no information within this communication should be taken as such, nor should any information in this communication be relied upon in making any investment decision. 

Certification under the Climate Bond Standard only reflects the climate attributes of the use of proceeds of a designated debt instrument. It does not reflect the credit worthiness of the designated debt instrument, nor its compliance with national or international laws.

A decision to invest in anything is solely yours. The Climate Bonds Initiative accepts no liability of any kind, for any investment an individual or organisation makes, nor for any investment made by third parties on behalf of an individual or organisation, based in whole or in part on any information contained within this, or any other Climate Bonds Initiative public communication.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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