Nasdaq’s Nordic Sustainable Green Bond Market has listed its 100th sustainable bond, a decade after the SEB and the World Bank first developed the concept of a green bond market.
While the Nordic bond markets are considered small in monetary terms, they are recognised among investors for their pioneering efforts in sustainable finance adoption. The company said that it had seen 40% more green bond listings in the first half of 2018 than in the full 12 months of the previous year.
Nasdaq’s announcement will be welcomed by green bond supporters, after a less upbeat report from ratings agency Moody’s earlier in the month, which suggested that green bond issuance internationally was on the wane.
The Moody’s report Green Bonds – Global Second Quarter Issuance suggested that green bond issuance for 2018 would be between $175 – 200 billion, down from the $250 billion originally projected by the agency at the end of 2017.
In Thursday’s announcement, Nasdaq said that it had listed its 100th sustainable bond, just three years since launching the market in Stockholm.
“The steady influx of new issuers, coupled with Nasdaq’s new segments for retail traded corporate and structured bonds, are set to provide continued growth in the years to come,” a company spokesman said in a statement.
“Currently, close to 10 % of all corporate and municipal bonds listed on the main market of Stockholm are either green or sustainable, an extraordinary figure in a global comparison and a development we are eager to see replicated in our other markets.”
In Thursday’s announcement Nasdaq said that close to 10% of all corporate and municipal bonds listed on the main market of Stockholm are either green or sustainable, a percentage that the company said it was “eager to see replicated” in its other markets.
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