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SIFMA president and CEO Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr., delivered opening remarks today at a symposium entitled “Green Finance: A Growing Imperative.” The event was co-hosted by the Paulson Institute, the Green Finance Committee (GFC), China Society for Finance and Banking under The People’s Bank of China’s (PBOC), the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), UNEP and Bloomberg Philanthropies. Bentsen was followed by Paulson Institute Chairman Henry M. Paulson, Jr. and PBOC Governor Zhou Xiaochuan. An excerpt is as follows with full remarks found here.
“As nations move forward with their commitment to green growth, funding sources will have to be as innovative as the green initiatives they seek to finance. Public funds will not be sufficient to truly effect change. That is why so many nations are adopting policies to help them tap into our global capital markets for additional funding, whether it is through the use of green bonds, equity financing through green IPOs, or other methods.
“In fact, according to a Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) report, in 2014, the global total of green investment – in both the public and private sector combined – increased by 18% from $331 billion to $391 billion. Private investment on its own has moved at an even faster rate, growing by 26% in 2014. It now represents two-thirds of the global market for green finance at $243 billion worldwide.
“This growth trend in green investment can be seen in the green bond market, which continues to grow in size and scale, as current markets expand and new markets emerge in countries like Brazil, China, and India, just to name a few.
“According to the Climate Bonds Initiative, $41.8 billion green bonds were issued in 2015, the largest amount in a year to date (up from $37 billion in 2014 and $11.5 billion in 2013), and 45.8% of 2015 issuance was toward renewable energy.”
“When we look at who is leading the efforts in 2015, Europe is the largest issuer region at $18.4 billion issued, followed by the United States with $10.5 billion issued. The U.S. is the largest issuer country of green bonds, driven mainly by municipal green bonds. China launched its first tranche of green bonds last year, and its market is already one of the largest in the world, having issued in 2015 $1 billion in green bonds from China and $300 million offshore in Hong Kong.”
