Bonds to finance environmentally friendly activities set a new record this year. Their global issue reached $859 billion. Green bonds are issued by companies across industries.
The year-on-year increase in the volume of green bonds issued is almost 61 percent and it is very likely that it will exceed one trillion dollars next year. This is according to data from Refinitiv, to which Reuters refers.
“We see that a wide variety of companies issue green bonds. They are demonstrating their commitment to reducing their carbon footprint, ”David Falk, portfolio manager at Shelton Capital Management, told Reuters. The largest share, over 50 percent, falls on Europe, the rest is divided almost equally between the United States and the Asia-Pacific region.
Analysts expect the issue of so-called ESG bonds to continue to rise in the coming years. It is said that lower interest rates compared to non-ESG bonds are likely to play a role, which issuers will welcome especially at a time when interest rates are rising or will rise in the foreseeable future. According to some experts, this is already happening, and the interest rate gap between standard and ESG bonds is widening.
