ADB sells $1.3bn bonds to spur climate financing

MANILA / WAM

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) raised $1.3 billion to help finance climate change mitigation and adaptation projects with the issue of dual-tranche 3-year and 10-year green bonds, following its inaugural green bond issue in 2015.
“Scaling up climate financing is essential for the region to keep its commitments to the Paris Agreement, adopted at last year’s climate change summit,” said ADB Treasurer Pierre Van Peteghem. “Through robust climate finance to both the public and private sectors, ADB has demonstrated its commitment to a low-carbon future. Today’s green bond issue also shows ADB’s responsiveness to investors, who increasingly see the importance of green investment and sustainable development for Asia and the Pacific.”
Last year, ADB announced that it will double its annual climate financing to $6 billion by 2020, up from $3 billion in 2015. ADB’s spending on tackling climate change will rise to around 30 percent of its overall financing by the end of this decade.