green bonds

Chew shares with FA his thoughts on sustainability structures amid increasingly challenging margins.

Recent efforts to align sustainable bond principles with international best practices show that China is serious about reaching its net zero goals. But it will need to ensure it can boost standards if it is to sustain momentum and investor interest in its green finance sector.

The new legal framework which requires the public sector issuer to spell out the use of the proceeds and report on the project’s environmental impact has been hailed by the industry for setting the standards for green bond financing in Singapore and the region.

The latest data points to an increased appetite for ESG-focused funding, but highlights hard-to-address concerns around greenwashing as a threat to the future development of sustainable finance.

This is the first ever bond in the global sustainable market where investors, joint lead managers and the issuer team up to financially contribute to an environmentally and socially-friendly project.

Hong Kong saw record issuance of green bonds last year, and the government is planning to use these instruments to bolster its sustainable finance objectives in 2021.

Ratings agency Moody's, in its projections, says government support will be a driver for the trend while carbon transition finance is also expected to come of age.

Hong Kong property company says it will make contribution to impact-driven charity if it’s not successful in meeting terms of a $125 million foreign-exchange swap.