Green bonds of supranational financial institutions: On the road to sustainable development

  • Received December 11, 2021;
    Accepted February 3, 2022;
    Published February 7, 2022
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  • DOI
    http://dx.doi.org/10.21511/imfi.19(1).2022.07
  • Article Info
    Volume 19 2022, Issue #1, pp. 91-105
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The move to sustainable development and building a carbon-low economy needs funding. In this regard, a new direction in finance – green (sustainable) finance – has emerged. One of the green finance instruments is green bonds, first issued by supranational financial institutions. This paper aims to identify the features of green bond issues and implemented green projects by the World Bank (the WB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the EBRD). Data were obtained from databases and reports of the WB, the EBRD, and the Climate Bonds Initiative. Data analysis was provided using statistical methods, particularly descriptive and comparative statistics. A positive trend in the issue of green bonds in the volumes and timing of the WB and the EBRD was revealed, despite the shift in emphasis caused by COVID-19. Renewable energy, energy efficiency, and clean transportation remain the primary directions of the WB, and the EBRD green projects amounted to more than 60% of total projects funding. The geography of green projects financed through the WB and the EBRD green bonds indicates that green projects are receiving significant funding from countries facing environmental challenges and demonstrating intent to green transition (the WB – China and India, the EBRD – Turkey, Poland, and Egypt). Supranational financial institutions were the first to come to the forefront of sustainable development funding and are now spearheading the creation of new financial instruments aimed at financing both green and social projects, leading to the emergence of sustainability bonds.

Acknowledgment(s)
The authors would like to thank the participants of the 1st International Conference on Sustainable Development (SDL 2021) for providing the valuable remarks and a fruitful discussion. This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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    • Figure 1. Resources for the implementation of the sustainable development concept
    • Figure 2. CO2 emissions per capita and CO2 emissions per 2015 US $ of GDP between 1992–2018
    • Figure 3. Green bonds according to green projects
    • Figure 4. Green, social, and sustainability bonds
    • Figure 5. Green, social and sustainability bonds, issued amount, USD bln
    • Figure 6. Green bond issues by the WB and average maturity of issues, 2008 – November 30, 2021
    • Figure 7. Currency structure of green bonds issued by the WB, 2008 – November 30, 2021
    • Table 1. Preconditions of the SDGs
    • Table 2. Descriptive statistics of CO2 emissions per 2015 US$ of GDP between 1992–2018
    • Table 3. Type structure of green projects financed by the WB in 2015–2020 fiscal years, %
    • Table 4. Geographic structure of green projects financed by the WB in 2015–2020 fiscal years, %
    • Table 5. General characteristic of GPP of the EBRD, 2016–2020
    • Table 6. Type structure of green projects financed by the EBRD in 2015–2020, %
    • Table 7. Geographic structure of green projects financed by the EBRD in 2015–2020, %
    • Table 8. Total impact of green projects financed by the EBRD in 2015–2020, %
    • Table 9. Examples of green projects financed by the EBRD in 2015–2020, %
    • Conceptualization
      Nataliia Versal
    • Data curation
      Nataliia Versal, Antonina Sholoiko
    • Formal Analysis
      Nataliia Versal, Antonina Sholoiko
    • Investigation
      Nataliia Versal, Antonina Sholoiko
    • Methodology
      Nataliia Versal, Antonina Sholoiko
    • Supervision
      Nataliia Versal
    • Visualization
      Nataliia Versal, Antonina Sholoiko
    • Writing – original draft
      Nataliia Versal, Antonina Sholoiko
    • Writing – review & editing
      Nataliia Versal, Antonina Sholoiko
    • Project administration
      Antonina Sholoiko