The online Green Bonds Principles (GBP) Resource Centre is now operational and contains standardised disclosure templates on green bonds from issuers and external reviewers, as well as other relevant market resources.
The GBP – voluntary guidelines based on transparency and disclosure that provide the framework for the development of the USD100 billion-plus Green Bond market – recommend the use of these templates, which have already been adopted by a substantial number of market participants.
It is expected that this new resource will add significantly to market transparency allowing investors to determine the extent to which Green Bond issuers are aligned with the GBP. This will also support the growth of green bond investment and promote further development of the market which is seeing record issuance with USD64.3 billion this year to date representing 1.5 times the amount raised during the entire previous year.
The GBP are at the centre of efforts to “promote voluntary principles for green finance” as called for in the September 2016 G20 communiqué.
Martin Scheck (pictured), chief executive of the International Capital Market Association (ICMA), which provides the secretariat for the GBP, says: “The GBP is again proving its capacity to respond to market needs and to enhance the effectiveness of the fast-growing green bond market. This shows the merit of adaptive voluntary standards offered by the GBP.”
Eila Kreivi, chair of the GBP steering group, and head of capital markets department at EIB, says: “As the GBP have become a key reference for green bonds, market participants increasingly called for a means of simplifying evidence of alignment with the GBP and standardising external review summaries, in a way that enhances comparability. These new tools help to do just that.”
