climate-bond-standards

Australia’s first certified Climate Bond was launched today by one of Australia’s four big banks; National Australia Bank (NAB). The bond has been certified under the Climate Bonds Standard; a FairTrade-like labeling scheme for bonds that allows investors to easily prioritise ‘climate-smart’ investments. The bond raised A$300 million and will fund a portfolio of seventeen wind and solar energy farms. It is the first time an Australian issuer has brought a green bond to the local market.

Austrian power company Verbund AG released a EUR 500m ($623m) green bond last week. The use of proceeds bond is rated BBB+ by S&P and has a 10 year tenor. The joint lead managers for the deal were Commerzbank AG, JP Morgan, Raiffeisen Bank International, Societe Generale and UniCredit Bank Austria AG.

The International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation (ICMIF), representing members with a collective US$ 8 trillion of assets under management, today joined the Climate Bond Standards Board, the organization working to clarify climate smart investments for bond investors. 

A new Climate Bonds Expert Working Group, made up of key water sector and industry experts from around the world will be meeting for the first time today to develop criteria for water investments that can be used to back green and climate bonds certified under the Climate Bond Standard – an easy-to-use tool for investors and governments that allows them to assess the environmental integrity of bonds with confidence.

Oekom Research AG, a leading ESG rating agency has been confirmed by the Climate Bond Standards Board as an approved Climate Bond Standards verifier.