Compiled by Sean Kidney of the Climate Bonds Initiative www.climatebonds.net
Includes WSJ, Global Capital, Boursorama and more
Lots of coverage this month. We’ve divided stories into six topics: Green Property Criteria, Calls for Standards and Clarity, Market Analysis and Market Growth.
Green Property Criteria
Coverage following the opening of the Public Consultation for Green Property Eligibility Criteria under the Climate Bonds Standard.
- Australian Financial Review, Building carbon data boosts ‘green’ investment hopes for property bonds, Michael Blebynsion Europe, Climate bond standards aim to attract institutional investors, Jonathan Williams
- IP Real Estate, Climate bonds could be limited to top 15% of property market, Jonathan Williams
- Responsible Investor, Standards for green property bonds proposed by Climate Bonds Initiative, Jan F. Wagner
- Property Funds World, New rules for green property to deliver FairTrade-like climate bonds labelling
- The Sustainability Report, Climate Bonds Initiative proposes green property standards, Rachel Alembakis
- GlobeSt.com, Green Property Rules Published, David Phillips
Calls for standards and clarity
- Wall Street Journal, ‘Green’ Bonds Raise Worries , Vipal Monga?
Author puts an emphasis on a need for the market standardisation and rigorous monitoring of the use of proceeds in order to avoid greenwashing and mislabelling of bonds.
- Blue & Green Tomorrow, Investors need clarification on green bonds, says analyst, Charlotte Malone?
The growing green bond market needs to clarify what constitutes ‘green’ as there is still confusion among investors and those operating in the market about what green bonds are.
Market analysis
- Institutional Investor, Green Bonds: European Acceptance, American Reluctance, Joel Kranc
In this interesting analysis, author compares the ‘liking for green bonds’ of European and American investors. He says that issuances from Regency Centers and Vornado Reality mark the end of ‘American reluctance’ to green investments.
“Environmentally sound investment options, once confined to the equity market, are sprouting in fixed income.”
- International Financing Review, Green is the new black, Keith Mullin
In an engaging/thought-provoking column, author explains why he ‘likes green bonds’ and lists Climate Bonds Initiative among the ‘positive aspects of what the capital markets are doing’.
“…And there’s the non-profit Climate Bonds Initiative, with its Climate Bond International ards and Certification Scheme; and the Climate Bond Standards Board under the umbrella of which environmental NGOs engage with large institutional investors.”
Market growth
Green bonds market approaching $20bn attracted attention of responsible investor and Environmental Finance:
- Responsible Investor, Market for green bonds poised to surpass $20bn, Jan Wagner
- Environmental Finance, Green bond market on the verge of smashing $20bn mark, Peter Cripps
- Bloomberg, Green Bonds Show Path to $1 Trillion Market for Climate, Christopher Martin
Green bonds may help provide the $1 trillion annual investments in clean energy that environmental groups say is necessary to limit the impact of climate change. - International Financing Review, Home Depot leads diverse group of high-grade issuers, Shankar Ramakrishnan, Danielle Robinson and Michael Gambale
The analysis of investors behavior in the bond market lists Vornado Reality’s green bond as one of the main developments. It quotes CBI’s view on its environmental value.
According to Sean Kidney, chief executive of non-profit group the Climate Bonds Initiative, both Regency and Vornado’s environmentally friendly bonds are on the paler side of green, because they specify that the bond proceeds can be used to fund new, ongoing or existing assets that have received any LEED certification label and not just the most environmentally superior LEED 4 certification. “Under-ambitious retrofits for LEED certification can be counterproductive because they tend to lock out bigger changes that achieve higher LEED certification, that result in deeper cuts in emissions,” said Kidney.
- Global Capital, Vornado shows again that green bonds can price through curve, Jon Hay.
While complementing Vornado for maintaining equal pricing, the author muses on the green integrity of the bond.
- RenewEconomy, Graph of the Day: Green bonds boom, headed for $40bn, Sophie Vorrath.
Australian clean energy news portal cheers the scale of the global and local green bonds market’s growth.
- Boursorama (French), Un marché des obligations vertes en devenir, Emmanuel de La Ville.
Selon les estimations de Standard & Poor’s, le marché du « taux vert » devrait passer de 10 milliards de dollars en 2013 à plus de 20 milliards d’ici fin 2014. Selon le CEO du Climate Bond Initiative[1], les prévisions sont un doublement chaque année avec un objectif de 500 milliards de dollars en 2018 !
- Expansion.com (Spanish), Iberdrola, GDF y Unilever se lanzan a los bonos verdes, Anna Medina
Según Climate Bonds Initiative, el volumen de emisiones de bonos verdes rondó los 9.000 millones de dólares en el primer trimestre. De esa cifra, 4.030 millones correspondieron a empresas y 4.900 millones a bancos de desarrollo (como Banco Europeo de Inversiones, Banco Africano de Desarrollo o Banco Mundial).
- Valori (Italian), Investimenti verdi, verso una visione comune, Matteo Cavallito? – Interview with Sean Kidney.