CLIMATE BONDS FOR NEW ENERGY

New Initiative to Bring in Trillion Dollar Bond Markets to Finance the Low Carbon Economy
15 March 2011 (Climate Bond Initiative)

"The Climate Bonds Initiative announced the count down to the world’s first Climate Bond issuance - worth a quarter of a billion US dollars - with the release of the draft Compliance Standards today that will assure the environmental integrity of bonds issued to fund low carbon projects. The first version of the Standard will apply to wind energy.

"The Climate Bond Initiative’s Standards break new ground by providing independently verified assurance to institutional investors that the proceeds of such bonds are being used to build the low carbon economy, and will not be diverted…[T]he first wind energy Standard-compliant Climate Bond issuance of over a quarter of a billion dollars is being prepared for release and is expected to be launched in May this year."

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"…[T]he Climate Bonds Initiative is now seeking public and industry comment on the draft Standard for bonds used to finance wind energy projects with the objective of finalising the standard by the end of April.

"The Climate Bonds Initiative brings together some of the world’s largest financial institutions…with experts…from climate change and clean technology industries and respected environmental groups…"

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"Institutional investors like pension funds manage some $70 trillion of the world’s wealth and yet renewable energy industries have largely been unable to tap directly into this source of finance due to their small scale and lack of supportive institutions to accredit their projects…The Climate Bonds Standard will give investors assurance about the environmental integrity being stated by bond issuers…

"The Climate Bonds Initiative’s Standard will also provide a useful tool for project aggregators, as they will be able to acquire different clean energy investments using compliance with certified Standards as a filter. That will make it easier to hold investments with different underlying technologies, such as wind, solar or biomass, in a single portfolio that could then be securitised to attract large investors…"