In that regard, the macro and thematic backdrop for the green bond market couldn’t be better. Panellists assembled by IFR for the roundtable discussion unanimously agreed that the market is set to grow and prosper. Yet it’s easy to look at bald primary market numbers and naysay the positive sentiment. Issuance in 2015 was around the US$40bn mark, an increase over the previous year but then again given the broad support for the environmental story, not material. And it fell far short of the US$10

IFR: To what extent do the Green Bond Principles get close to what Aldo’s talking about?   Ulrik Ross, HSBC: We are talking here about some very important elements: the next iterations of green bonds. It ultimately comes down to how you define what is green and what is not. You have a labelled and an unlabelled green bond market but where do you draw the line? It is up to the markets to decide. We don’t need anybody to regulate if investors should buy labelled or unlabelled green bonds. On the l

IFR: Very fair points, Ulrik, but that will take time, as you suggested. But in the realm of funding Realpolitik in a volatile 2016, Mirko, where does the green bond agenda go?   Mirko Gerhold, Commerzbank: Through experience, volatile markets have never been supportive of new product developments. From that perspective, volatility is not ideal for the further development of the green bond market. From a credit perspective, we have been seeing a lot of activity from SSA issuers and less from low

IFR: Welcome to IFR’s second annual Green Bond Roundtable. Once again, green bonds have been one of the biggest talking points in the debt capital markets. This discussion is taking place, of course, in the shadow of COP21. Ulrik: can you summarise the outputs from COP21 as they pertain to financing the de-carbonisation agenda?   Ulrik Ross, HSBC: When you look at COP21, there is huge engagement from the political side, the business side, NGOs and from the general population. We didn’t see that

Joop Hessels ABN AMRO Joop Hessels’ background is in FIG bond origination. Since 2014, he has been heading the green bond department with debt capital markets at ABN AMRO focusing on sustainable finance bond and loans. He is advising a number of corporate and financial issuers with the setup of their future green bond frameworks.   Justin Eeles Affirmative Asset Management Justin Eeles is head of portfolio management at Affirmative Asset Management, and lead portfolio manager for the world’s fir