Voluntary standards do not have a good reputation in the financial services industry. Generally drafted by the same practitioners that are expected to abide by them, they have been widely criticised for being light-touch without any real teeth, and have been cast as indirectly responsible for the multiple conduct scandals that have come to light in recent years. It may seem surprising, then, that as the burgeoning Green bond market has evolved, its protagonists have put their faith in a short se

According to the Climate Bonds Initiative, Green bond issuance totalled US$42.4bn last year, an increase of almost 16% from the US$36.6bn that printed in 2014. Data from Thomson Reuters show exponential growth in supply from Asia-Pacific, with US$498m issued in 2013, US$538m in 2014, US$2.8bn in 2015 and US$8.4bn so far this year. “As far as Green bonds and the ESG agenda are concerned, 2016 is shaping up to be a pivotal year. Initiatives such as the Financial Stability Board task force on clima

Is it a coincidence that the prospect of real competition in the provision of second opinions has seen the incumbents back an industry initiative to streamline the presentation their work? When Standard & Poor’s Dow Jones Indices and TruCost (SPDJIT) and Moody’s Investors Services published consultation papers on ratings methodologies this year, they served notice on the likes of Oekom, Vigeo, DNV GL, Sustainalytics and CICERO that maintaining the status quo was unlikely. Under the auspices

The need to finance the development of sustainable transport infrastructure is undeniable as the world attempts to move itself towards a low-carbon environment. The transport sector is the second largest contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions after electricity generation, according to Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions for Transport, and is already contributing over 27% of energy-related CO2 emissions. It is also the fastest growing sector in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. Wit

As bonds, equities and structured investments become increasingly intertwined, some banks are taking a single-platform approach to encompass Green bond issuance, bespoke equity-linked structuring and ethical index development. In February, JP Morgan became the latest bank to address the fragmented nature of its sustainable investment activities with JP Morgan Ethos Investments – a new cross-asset platform for ethical, social and governance investment activities that it hopes will open the door t

It is a familiar lament. A new debt market asset class is launched with much fanfare. A scattering of issuers – the usual suspects, led by supranationals and agencies – leap into the fray, grabbing headlines with a few chunky sales. Then everyone stands back and waits for the private sector to catch up. This is where socially responsible investing (SRI) finds itself. A market that sprawls, taking in everything from the need to fund social housing and youth unemployment, to worthy green-related p

Socially responsible investing (SRI) originated in Europe and remains more developed on the Continent than in the UK or US. In the US especially, where a fund manager could get sued for buying a bond that was not the best value on a purely economical basis, it was harder for SRI to take root. The digital revolution has made the public more aware than it used to be, said Aitken Ross, investment manager, fixed income at Alliance Trust Investments. “People are more aware of the implications of thei

In the hot and humid jungle city of Manaus in northern Brazil, work is under way to create school places for 18,000 new students as part of a broader push to boost education provision in the Amazonas – a region blanketed in dense rainforest and where isolated rural communities, often accessible only by boat, lack basic schooling. The project is being funded by the Inter-American Development Bank with cash raised from its Education, Youth and Employment, or EYE, bond programme – a scheme designed