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Green bonds are a growing category of fixed-income securities,
which raise capital for projects with environmental benefits.
Although green bonds make up a small fraction of the overall
bond market, they are attracting more attention because meeting
emissions-cut targets will need trillions of dollars of capital
from public and private sectors.
Cumulative green bond issuance has reached nearly $107 billion,
according to the Climate Bonds Initiative, a London-based
non-profit which promotes investment in the low-carbon economy.
Issuance has now reached $100 billion three times - the last
time was in Sept. 2018. Forecasts for the final amount of
issuance this year range from $180 billion to $250 billion.
"Reaching $100 billion in green bond issuance for the third time
and so early in the year is welcome. However, the global climate
finance challenge is to reach a $1 trillion in annual green
investment early in the 2020s," said Climate Bonds Initiative
Chief Executive Sean Kidney.
The former United Nations climate chief, Christiana Figueres,
has said the financial sector should be aiming to reach $1
trillion a year of green bond issuance by 2020 to support
international goals to decarbonize economies.
So far this year, the largest corporate bonds issued have been
by French utility Engie at $1.7 billion, Korean petrochemicals
firm LG Chem at $1.6 billion and the Industrial and Commercial
Bank of China at $1.5 billion.
In terms of country issuance, France and the United States have
issued the most green bonds so far this year. Last month, the
Netherlands launched a $6.7 billion green bond.
(Reporting by Nina Chestney, editing by Louise Heavens)
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