Proceeds to energy efficient buildings: Initial details emerge in public announcement
What’s it all about?
In a first for a public/municipal entity in Switzerland, the Canton of Geneva has announced it will issue green bonds to finance green buildings in the health and medical research sectors including a university medical centre, a general hospital and a maternity hospital.
According to the media statement this issuance echoes the Climate Plan adopted by the Canton in 2015, notably in terms of GHG emissions reduction up to 2030; they have also set up an environmental management system for procurement, energy, waste and transport.
A dedicated green bond section will be created on the Canton Finance Department's website. Use of proceeds will be disclosed to investors and annual performance reporting will be undertaken.
Vigeo Eiris (a Climate Bonds Approved Verifier) has provided the second opinion.
Further details are not confirmed at this stage, but to finance projects of this size and nature, issuance would have to be at least several hundreds of millions CHF or equivalents.
The Last Word
From the media statement it looks like the Canton sees an opportunity to position Geneva as a centre of green finance. So we’ll add them to our list of aspiring green finance hubs that now runs to London, Paris, Frankfurt, Luxembourg and Casablanca amongst others.
For Blog readers who can master their French, you can read the full media statement here.
We’ll keep you posted as more details emerge.
‘Till next time,
Climate Bonds
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