Three weeks after adopting a new energy policy that axes coal lending, the World Bank is back with a new $550m, 2 year Green Bond, AAA. The bond coupon is 0.375%, slightly better than US Treasury bonds. (Rates sure a low, aren't they!)
I’m writing beside a beautiful lagoon on the tropical South Pacific island of Espiritu Santo, not far from where I was born and spent my early years.
Working on climate change introduces a note of melancholia to such holidays: how long before my waterside bungalow gets washed away in more extreme storm surges and rising sea levels? Does that bizarre tubular jellyfish that I managed to avoid snorkelling today represent the new dominant as oceans acidify?
At least there is good news on the energy front:
The Massachusetts AA+ green bond I mentioned last week got a lot of coverage on release this week - even the WSJ ran the story. But there was a twist: it seems the State had to scale back the total $1.1bn GO offering to $670m on tepid demand, but the green bond bit was 30% oversubscribed.
Books have just opened. Joint lead managers are SEB and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
The IFC has just issued (books closed a couple of hours ago) a USD1 billion, 3 year, AAA "Green Bond" tied to climate investments - yes, that's a climate bond in our parlance. Interest rate set at 3 year US Treasuries +15 basis points.
