Sao Paulo sees green investment pipelines from Brazil energy and agri companies presented to investors; Financing for low carbon investment moves forward
What’s it all about?
Members of the Brazil Green Finance Initiative (BGFI), representing over BRL1.3trillion in assets under management, and special guests, gathered yesterday at the Zurich-Santander Seguros e Previdência headquarters in São Paulo to review green investment portfolios, presented by business leaders of the Agriculture and Energy sectors in Brazil.
Among the companies present at the meeting were Eletrobrás, Faro Energy, Athon Energia, Bunge Ltd and Rio Galhão Agrícola.
The first Certified Green Bond for solar energy in Brazil, issued by Faro Energy, featured highly in the meeting as being a benchmark issuance for the solar sector. Other items on the agenda included technical discussions on financial product requirements to enable green investment allocations, particularly by institutional investors.
In partnership with Sociedade Rural Brasileira,we also welcomed members of the BGFI Agriculture Subcommittee to a forum at leading environmental advisers Pinheiro Neto Advogados in São Paulo. Discussion focussed on finance requirements for the development of low carbon agriculture practices and existing financial instruments for the agri sector.
The BGFI Agriculture Subcommittee was launched in March with the objective to identify and advance financial solutions that allow the mobilisation of capital for sustainable projects in the Brazilian agricultural chain.
Who’s saying what?
John Liu, CIO, Zurich-Santander Seguros e Previdência:
"The success of today's meeting proves that we must persist in bringing together all the important actors of this market. The investors left here today much more enlightened as to the qualities of green bonds and the pipeline of projects in the Energy and Agriculture sectors."
Leopoldo Barreto, COO, Sulamerica Investimentos:
"We know the investor community still struggles to differentiate the value of a green bond. However, we see that this reality is changing. Today's meeting contributes to the breakdown of this paradigm."
André Dabus, Director for Infrastructure and Utilities, Marsh:
"There is no doubt that to reduce the infrastructure gap in the country there has to be investment. Investment needs financing and risk mitigation should not be ignored. The insurance industry is one of the alternatives. I believe green bonds are the main tool to generate this competitive advantage for projects.”
David Taff, CEO, Siemens Participações:
“We know there are great difficulties in financing infrastructure and green bonds can give a sustainability stamp to the process, which is a great differential. This helps in attracting investors, diversifying the investor base and also in terms of reputation.”
Justine Leigh-Bell, Director of Market Development, Climate Bonds Initiative:
"Having the companies and investors at the same table today was evidence that Brazil’s agenda for green finance is gaining serious traction. The BGFI is proving to be a valuable platform for Brazil’s stakeholders to engage and take action on driving the development of a local green bond market.”
“The market is gaining a better understanding about green finance, and the opportunities this presents in terms of new investments across key sectors of Brazil’s economy and the important role of transparency and disclosure processes that investors are increasingly demanding.”
The last word
Climate Bonds Initiative will continue our support for the development of the Brazilian market, engaging companies in identifying exciting pipeline of green projects that we can connect to local and international investors, who are eager to learn about business opportunities in Brazil.
Stay tuned for our upcoming release of the Brazil State of the Market 2018; a detailed analysis of the market that will provide an analysis of investment needed to finance Brazil’s low carbon growth in Renewable Energy, Infrastructure, Agriculture and Forestry.
Exciting times!
Climate Bonds
