Nordic corporate banking services provider SEB has predicted green bond issuance could hit $250bn for 2019, and predicts it will rise to $350bn+ through 2020.
The prediction comes in the latest issue of its periodical report The Green Bond, which has identified strong growth in markets such as Germany, Japan and Denmark along with recovery of the US market for the asset class.
Christopher Flensborg, head of Climate & Sustainable Financial Solutions at SEB, said: "2019 is shaping up to be the best year ever for green bonds with more than $250bn of issuance and heading towards $350bn+ in 2020. Growth has been driven by ‘new' markets like Germany, Japan and Denmark, a recovery of the US and strong engagement from Agencies and the corporate sector. This is all showing a strong response to increasing investor demand for the green bond market. We expect this trend of growth to continue and our base case for 2020 is issuance of $350bn."
The report also notes:
- Over $800bn of accumulated total green bond issuance since 2008
- October, November and first half of December 2019 issuance was $35.9bn, $28.1bn, and $2.6bn respectively
- Issuance from Financials ($19bn), corporates ($12.2bn) and government agencies ($9.8bn) in October and November 2019 was 250% ahead of last year
- Europe (excl. Nordic) had $19.9bn issuance in October and November with issuers spread across several sectors, including sovereigns, financials, corporates, municipals and government agencies
- November 2019 was the most active month of the year for Nordics with $3.8bn of green bond issuance
- Sustainable finance debt products other than green bonds are YTD already $43.2bn higher than 2018
To read the full report, click below:
