Strong growth in green bond issuance in the third quarter could see the market top $250 billion for 2019, according to ratings agency Moody’s. Issuance for the first nine months of 2019 was 67 percent higher than during the same period of 2018 and eclipsed full-year 2018 issuance of $171 billion, according to the update. Green bonds accounted for 3.7 percent of total global bond issuance in the third quarter, and far outpaced the segment’s overall growth of 2.5 percent. Corporates were again the strongest contributors to overall issuance in the third quarter, continuing a trend observed in the first and second quarters, Moody’s said. Most green bonds were issued in Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific. Latin American issuers accounted for three per cent of the total, and African just one per cent. However, Moody’s expects the market to grow in Africa, following the first green bond from Kenya coming to market in September. Moody’s also predicts investments in climate adaptation and resilience projects to increase.

Posted by

Business Green