Green Bonds and Climate Change “Bond, Green Bond: A Licence to Tackle Climate Change”

I am delighted to have been commissioned to write on green bonds topic, in this age of climate-consciousness, by the Butterworths Journal of International Banking and Financial law (JIBFL), which was published in April 2016.

This article follows my article in September 2015 on the banking regulation and bail-in following the EU Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive available here.

In the article I put forward the proposition that climate bonds could help raise the much needed finance to tackle climate change. I also discuss the concept of the shades of green. Green climate bonds have various shades of and I hope that in the article I do explain that in a way that is reader friendly.

Green Bonds: The Three Shades

As a result of the shades of green I also suggest that the green bond credentials are intentionally broad in scope to encourage a greener low carbon economy. The proceeds of green bonds could well be an issue, which can be prevented. Accordingly, I call on investors and issuers to take advantage of the Green Bond Principles and second opinion providers to prevent disputes and provide transparency of climate projects and climate benefits derived from the use of the green bond proceeds.

It may sound as though I am doing a review of my own work. Though in my defence, that is of course, what a good writer should be able to do. Accordingly, as one would expect in an article of this size, the article offers a brief overview of green bonds and the use of proceeds from a green bond issuance. It does not analyse the various bond structures, but instead, provides an easy to follow narrative of the broad scope of projects that can benefit from categorisation under the umbrella of green bonds. It also highlights the importance of clarity, information sharing and transparency in a green bond issuance with a view to dispute prevention and better investor relations.

I conclude by writing that …”Whilst “green” definitions are broad, green bonds can provide a realistic revenue stream for investors and a much needed cash injection towards a better, greener future”. The full text of the article can be found here.