Green Business

The African Development Bank (AAA) has raised an exceptional $3 billion in a three-year bond to help alleviate the economic and social impact the Covid-19 pandemic will have on livelihoods and Africa’s economies.

According to Yann Duvaud-Schelnast, Head of Sustainable Investment, innovation and governance at Allianz France, the subject of carbon occupies a key place to date in the insurer’s ESG strategy.

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, invested $200 million in The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited’s green bond placed on the London Stock Exchange today. It’s Africa’s largest green bond and South Africa’s first offshore green bond issuance, which will increase access to climate finance.

Germany (AAA/Stable) is set to enter the sovereign green bond market in the second half of 2020 as part of a longer-term strategy to shift debt towards green alternatives. Future issuance depends on the government’s willingness to move to a green economy.

Pension schemes have struggled to get to grips with environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. However, 2020 is likely to be the year when the growing pressure from regulators to address these issues becomes an avalanche.