Climate Bonds Blog

Doha snapshots 5: Turkish Ambassador's climate confusion / Tweets everywhere / Monckton evicted / Aviva builds in ESG / Amazing fact of the day

Posted: Dec 8, 2012

At one of the final side events by the Turkish industry and business association, TÜSİAD, the talk is at first all about carbon. But carbon credits are not going to be a big driver of emission reductions in Turkey.

Turkey is growing fast, and energy demand is growing even faster as the middle class expands; but 70% of primary energy supply is dependent on fossil fuel imports, largely from sometimes capricious Russia. These fuel imports are responsible for the bulk of Turkey's sizeable current account deficit.

Doha snapshots 5: Turkish Ambassador's climate confusion / Tweets everywhere / Monckton evicted / Aviva builds in ESG / Amazing fact of the day

China's Longyuan power issues $400m hybrid wind bond

Posted: Dec 7, 2012

This week Chinese wind power developer, Longyuan Power closed a $400m senior hybrid bond deal (a mixture of debt and equity where holders are given the option to convert the bond into equity after a specified time period). The money raised will go towards financing Longyuan’s aggressive expansion plans which, according to reports could see offshore capacity increase by five times over the next three years.

China's Longyuan power issues $400m hybrid wind bond

Doha 3: India supports GCF leveraging / Torben wants Climate Bonds / What Brooks said to Barker / UK goes for emission-target wrecking gas / And Bopha blasts / Bianca Jagger tweets forests / WB rpt says ME to get hotter (is that possible?) / Amazing fact

Posted: Dec 6, 2012

Big news: India is apparently OK with the Green Climate Fund being used to guarantee loans for climate finance – exactly what we’ve been pushing hard for at Climate Bonds. India’s lead climate negotiator Mira Mehrishi said it “would be extremely welcome because we are always looking to leverage money that’s available”.

She even said that India may consider agreeing to rules set down by the fund! Expect that to include removing remaining fossil fuel subsidies.

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At an OECD Roundtable, Torben Møger Pedersen, CEO of $16bn PensionDanmark: "A or AA rated Climate Bonds, made up for example of securitized renewable energy or energy efficiency loans and supported by multinational development banks would be very attractive to a pension fund like ours".

Doha snapshots: Bissett & Steer: adaptation affects Everything / At least Tajikistan is adaptation planning / Astounding fact of the day / Korean Minister pokes negotiators

Posted: Dec 5, 2012

At a UNEPFI-CMIA forum in another of Doha's swish hotels, discussing mobilizing private sector finance of mitigation and adaptation projects. Rosemary Bissett of National Australia Bank, posits:

Doha snapshots: Bissett & Steer: adaptation affects Everything / At least Tajikistan is adaptation planning / Astounding fact of the day / Korean Minister pokes negotiators

Doha snapshots: Negotiations? pffft / IEA+WB+UNEP+PwC+WMO: big gun reports fire away / meanwhile, in Uganda ....

Posted: Dec 4, 2012

- I’m in Qatar, a place slightly smaller than Connecticut, prosaically described in my travel guide app as “mainly flat and barren desert, covered with loose sand and gravel”. There’s not a lot of desert left in its capital, Doha, just a vast sea of choked-up highways (serious SUV traffic!) and low-rise buildings punctuated by monumentalist skyscrapers, all thanks to huge natural gas resources. Pity we're going to have to leave a large part of that gas in the ground if we're going to avoid catastrophic climate change.

Doha snapshots: Negotiations? pffft / IEA+WB+UNEP+PwC+WMO: big gun reports fire away / meanwhile, in Uganda ....

Innovative Australians use $100m Green Sukuk to fund 50MW of Indonesian PV plants

Posted: Nov 27, 2012

As you may recollect, we're keen on the idea of Green Sukuk (Sukuk are Shari'ah-compliant bonds), designed for Islamic investors and sovereign wealth funds. Environmental protection is important in Islamic teaching.

Earlier this year we established a Green Sukuk Working Group with the Clean Energy Business Council of the Middle East and North Africa and the Gulf Bond & Sukuk Association to promote the model.

Innovative Australians use $100m Green Sukuk to fund 50MW of Indonesian PV plants

$64m 24 yr solar bond private placement with UK Pensions Insurance Corp

Posted: Nov 23, 2012

The £6 bn Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) has bought up as a private placement the first ever UK publicly-listed solar bond, a £40m ($64m), 24 year bond linked to two 5 MW solar plants in Somerset owned by Solar Power Generation. Private placement may be ubiquitous in the US, but it's not so common in the UK - so full marks to deal arranger Independent Debt Capital Markets.

$64m 24 yr solar bond private placement with UK Pensions Insurance Corp

Invitation to a Roundtable on Renewable Energy Covered Bonds - London, 14 Dec, 1-4pm

Posted: Nov 21, 2012

Covered bonds are one the quiet heroes of financial instruments. With some $3.2 trillion outstanding, this is a huge market - and it's one that has performed well over the past few years of financial turmoil. Covered bonds are highly regulated financial instruments designed by governments to channel capital into areas of policy priority, notably housing. They can also be used to channel much-needed bank lending into renewable energy.

On Friday 14 December 2012, in Central London, we're holding an afternoon Roundtable on:

Invitation to a Roundtable on Renewable Energy Covered Bonds - London, 14 Dec, 1-4pm

New $111m EIB climate bond / $100m Argentina solar bond coming soon / great Grantham blast in 'Nature'

Posted: Nov 19, 2012

The European Investment Bank (EIB) this week issued a 11 year Swedish Krona 750 million ($111 million) 'Climate Awareness Bond', with an interest rate of 2.75%.

Scandinavian investors took 51% of the bond, other European investors 22% and Asian 27%. Fund managers took 54%, bank treasuries 41%. Bookrunners were Danske Bank and HSBC.

New $111m EIB climate bond / $100m Argentina solar bond coming soon / great Grantham blast in 'Nature'

Sth Africa's PIC buys $115m of IDC's $580m green bond

Posted: Nov 12, 2012

In April we reported that South Africa's state-owned Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) was issuing 5.2 billion rand ($595m) of green bonds to fund new renewable energy projects. The South African Government Employees’ Pension Fund had announced they were buying 1 billion rand's worth ($115m).

Sth Africa's PIC buys $115m of IDC's $580m green bond

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