The Vienna Stock Exchange scores with green issues: The Vienna ESG Segment has been bundling sustainable bonds under particularly high transparency criteria since May 2022 and has now recorded its hundredth green bond. With the first sustainability and gender tier 2 bonds of Akbank, the segment for environmentally sustainable bonds aligned with international standards exceeded 100 listings. Since 2022, the number of ESG bonds on the Vienna Stock Exchange has thus almost doubled (2022/01/01: 53 ESG bonds). Issuers in the Vienna ESG segment have already raised a total of around EUR 20 billion in financing, which benefits the sustainable transformation.
"The steady growth in ESG bonds shows the ever-increasing interest in sustainable investment opportunities. Investors can be confident that by investing in the Vienna ESG Segment they are directly participating in the transformation towards a climate-neutral economy. Issuers, in turn, benefit from high visibility and service quality," says Christoph Boschan, CEO of the Vienna Stock Exchange.
Top issuers finance and public sector
The list of the top 5 issuers by volume is led by the Republic of Austria, which issued two green bonds for investments in climate-friendly activities and ranks third worldwide in green bond issuance volume with EUR 7 billion. The financial sector is the other driving force behind green bonds on the Vienna Stock Exchange: HYPO NOE Landesbank AG, Erste Group Bank AG, UniCredit Bank Austria AG and Raiffeisenbank International AG (RBI) are responsible for issuing volumes of between EUR 1 and 1.5 billion each, ranking second to fifth. RBI is currently one of the most active issuers in the ESG segment with 20 bonds. Most recently, UBM Development AG and S Immo AG successfully placed green bonds, which were primarily addressed to private investors.
Sustainability as a driving force
Pioneers such as the domestic energy company Verbund AG, which was the first company in German-speaking countries to issue a green bond in 2014, paved the way for sustainable forms of financing on the Vienna Stock Exchange. Their attractiveness is increasingly in the focus of national and international companies, banks and investors. Companies are challenged by increasing requirements regarding transparency in dealing with ESG risks – i.e. environmental, social and responsible corporate governance. The Vienna Stock Exchange supports them with a guideline for non-financial reporting that summarises specific requirements and regulatory guidelines.
About the Vienna ESG Segment
Issuers of bonds in the Vienna ESG Segment obligate to comply with increased transparency, quality and publicity criteria, as well as with the ESG standards recognised by the Vienna Stock Exchange. These are essentially based on the principles and guidelines of the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) – including the Green Bond Principles and Social Bond Principles – and go beyond the legal requirements. In addition, an external review by independent institutions – the so-called second party opinion – ensures, among other things, compliance with the standards and the planned use of the proceeds.
