We know that many of our international blog readers couldn’t make it to our Annual Conference in London. So, we’ve picked out the best, quick takeaways for you.
Size of Market in 2017
The boldest prediction came from Henry Shilling, Senior Vice President of Moody’s Investors Services, who saw green bond issuance in 2017 reaching over USD 200bn by year’s end (based on favourable conditions).
In ‘Green Really Is Gold for These Bond Lovers’ Bloomberg looks at the conference buzz around growth prospects in 2017. Read it here.
A Second Sovereign from Poland?
Poland’s Green Bond Pioneer Award for the world’s first sovereign green bond issuance garnered extensive media attention in the days following the conference.
Deputy Finance Minister Piotr Nowak has also been signalling Poland will make a further sovereign green issuance in 2017.
One of our conference Media Partners, Thomson Reuters, also took a look at what’s happened so far in the year of sovereign green bonds with ‘From Africa to Asia, governments considering 'green' bond sales.’
Green Bonds on a Paris Trajectory? Connecting NDCs and Green Finance
We highly recommend this well constructed post by Ian Callaghan from NDCI.Global.
It traverses the conference discussions on sovereign issuance, green securitisation, Multilateral Development Banks, Development Finance Institutions, whilst identifying the underlying challenge: linking NDCs and green investment.
If there’s only one article you read arising from the conference…. read it here.
The 2017 Green Bond Pioneer Awards
We've had many requests for a full list of 2017 Green Bond Pioneer Award and Certificate recipients, so here’s the link to our post with all the details.
Congratulations to every green finance leader, well done!
The Last Word: Growth, Sovereigns, the G20 & COP23 in Germany
A USD 200bn+ year of green bonds in 2017 would put the market well on the road to the objective of USD 1trillion in green bond issuance by 2020.
France has already declared its hand with the largest green bond ever issued. If Nigeria and Kenya are also successful in their sovereign issuance, and Poland firms towards a second round, expectations for some G20 or Eurozone nations to follow suit will grow.
Above and beyond green bond issuance or sovereign action, keeping the green finance momentum moving, building and implementing country climate plans that link to NDCs and the 2 degree Paris target is fundamental, a point NDCI Global reiterates in the conclusion to Global Green Bonds on a Paris Trajectory.
In his closing address, Climate Bonds CEO Sean Kidney called conference participants to be active:
“To bring forward the identification and plugging of capacity and policy gaps that will allow countries to identify the projects that can be financed by instruments like green bonds.”
“That’s the win-win-win. The countries get the investment for the projects they need, the bond market gets its pipeline, Paris gets the more ambitious outcomes that are vital for the 1.5°C-2°C result.”
“But all the actors aren’t on the stage yet, let alone having learnt their lines. We need to accelerate, we need to get the full cast assembled to get this show properly on the road.”
This is the real economy challenge requiring continued leadership in 2017.
Firstly, from the G20 in maintaining the climate momentum expressed in the Hanzhou Leaders Communique and continuing the work done by China and the UK which culminated in the GFSG synthesis report.
Secondly from the nations, the banking and finance sector organisations now assembling their delegations for COP23 in Bonn.
Till next time,
Climate Bonds
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