NewChina’s green bond market set to rocket in the next five years
The green bond market could grow up to ten-fold by 2020 as Beijing is expected to soon roll out regulations on its development; Hong Kong to benefit
Mainland China’s green bond market could grow up to 10-fold by 2020 as Beijing is expected to soon roll out regulations on its development, and Hong Kong could get in on the action as a key international financial centre to tap its vast market potential, says the chief of an international climate change financing solutions promoter.
Sean Kidney, the chief executive of London-based non-profit organisation Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI), said the People’s Bank of China is expected to announce the regulations on green bond issuance in around two weeks.
“In China, it is a top down revolution, the government has decided the economy needs to go green ... [It] has lifted a billion people out of poverty ... but at an incredible sacrifice to the environment which can’t go on,” Kidney said in an interview with the South China Morning Post.
He cited an estimate by the People’s Bank of China that the nation requires five to nine billion yuan of annual investment a year to meet its pollution reduction goals, of which 15 per cent could be government-funded and the rest by a mix of domestic and international savings.
This is the natural window into China, but it needs to become a green window
“So they want to open up China’s financial markets to allow foreign investors to invest in green [projects] in China. This is a revolution ... bonds are a big part of the mix.”