A bit over a week ago Regency Centers became the first US Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) to enter the green bonds space with a 10 year, $250m corporate bond linked to their portfolio of shopping centres. Interest rate is 3.75%; Bank of America Merrill Lvnch (BAML) was the structuring agent while joint bookrunners were BAML, JPMorgan, Well Fargo and US Bancorp.
Climate Bonds Blog
Posted: May 27, 2014
I’m in Svalbard, 79 degrees North in the Arctic; the retreating glaciers and ice-free fjords are making me fret about last week’s Regency $250m BBB 10yr Green Property Bond, the first from the US
Posted: May 26, 2014
We are now in the final stages of the eligibility criteria development process for Green Property (commercial and residential). We're holding this webinar to run through proposed criteria and seek feedback.
The webinar is being co-hosted with the PRI Initiative (Principles for Responsible Investment). A recording will be available for those unable to attend.
Invitation: webinar this week Thurs 29 May on new Climate Bonds Green Property eligibility criteria, timed for Australia/Asia/US-West-Coast
Posted: May 21, 2014
The Climate Bonds Initiative is an NGO based in London. Its mission is to mobilize global bond markets for climate change solutions.
We’re recruiting for two roles:
We’re looking for brilliant people to hire: a market analyst and a policy researcher. London-based
Posted: May 16, 2014
Trucost today joins the Climate Bonds Low Carbon Transport Technical Working Group, looking at eligibility criteria for investments in rail, low-emission vehicles, etc.
The Low-Carbon Transport Technical Working Group has been established to develop eligibility criteria for the certification of low-carbon transport related bonds.
Trucost joins Climate Bonds Low Carbon Transport Technical Working Group
Posted: May 16, 2014
The AAA-rated European Investment Bank (EIB) has placed a 6th tap of its 5 year EUR Climate Awareness Bond (CAB), the second biggest Green Bond outstanding in any currency (GDF Suez took over the top spot earlier this week).
Interest rate is 1.375%. The EIB press release says that “thanks to secondary performance and strong investor interest, (the tap) could be priced at Mid-Swaps – 4 basis points, 3 basis points tighter than the previous taps".
That’s called a pricing benefit.
Lead Managers were Citigroup, HSBC, LBBW, Natixis and UniCredit.
Proceeds are earmarked for:
AAA away! EIB does a EUR350m ($480m) tap of its big 5yr climate awareness bond / World Bank does 4yr BRL465.5 + TLY335.5 (total $369m) green bonds for Japanese uridashi investors
Posted: May 15, 2014
By Bridget Boulle
Yesterday, French multinational electric utility company, GDF Suez, announced its first green bond – a whopper EUR2.5 billion ($3.5 billion) bond linked to ‘renewable energy and energy efficiency projects that contribute to fight climate change’. The bond shares GDF’s credit rating of A1/A-.
The bond was issued in two tranches: a 6-year tranche of EUR1.2 billion with a 1.375% interest rate, and a 12-year tranche of EUR1.3 billion with a 2.375% interest rate.
Whooa! GDF Suez goes BIG with largest ever RE/EE green bond at EUR2.5bn ($3.5bn). And STILL 3x times oversubscribed! And it’s pretty darn green.
Posted: May 13, 2014
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the transport sector is responsible for 23% of all energy-related CO2 emissions globally and 13% of total GHG emissions. Shifting to low-carbon transport is essential for climate change mitigation; but what should and shouldn't be called "low-carbon" is not always clear.
Green definitions for transport: Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) eligibility criteria under Climate Bonds Standard out for public comment
Posted: May 13, 2014
Mark Burrows is the Executive Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Credit Suisse Investment Bank. He's also passionate about protecting forests and about climate change.
On Monday, in a speech to the Forests Asia Summit in Jakarta, he talked at length about green bonds, and we loved every word of it!
I want to talk to you about bonds, and specifically about green bonds.
Bonds are attractive for many reasons; they are a familiar product to the investment community and they represent the single largest pool of capital in the world. The key question today is how would these benefit our forests?
In Jakarta, Credit Suisse AsiaPac Vice Chair calls for green bond standards & certification, incentives and a green growth narrative. Go!
Posted: May 12, 2014
I’m in Seoul, in a vast room for the 2014 Clean Energy Ministerial roundtable, surrounded by men in dark suits – only a sprinkling of women – listening to the IEA’s Maria van der Hoeven give a rock star speech about the State of Climate Change.
It’s not good news: the growth of coal-fired power growth since 2008 has beaten the growth of renewable energy. The relentless increase in use of fossil fuels in developing markets has wiped out any gains we’ve made with clean energy in developed countries. Errrk.
Seoul update: IEA reads riot act to clean energy ministers / BNEF says there is a some hope / Korea tech's 10 breakthroughs leave us on the up
Posted: May 6, 2014
We welcome three new members to our stellar expert panel:
- Danang Parikesit is a leading transportation expert in Asia, President of the Indonesian Transport Society, Professor of Transportation at Universitas Gadjah Mada anda transport policy advisor to the Indonesian Government.
- Carol Lee Rawn is Director of the Transportation Program at Ceres, a Boston-based NGO.
- Nick Owen is principal consultant at E4 tech transport consultants in London.
3 new members for Standards low-carbon transport expert group: Prof Danang Parikesit from Indonesia; Nick Owen, E4 Tech in UK; Carol Lee Rawn from Ceres in USA. First eligibility criteria for rail, EVs & BRTs to be released next week for comment