Climate change: Hong Kong’s government raises US$2.5 billion as it prices Asia’s first ever 30-year sovereign green bond

Hong Kong’s government priced what it said was the first 30-year green bond by an Asian government ever and the longest tenor bond in its history on Tuesday, raising US$2.5 billion, according to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the city’s de facto central bank.

The offering was more than double the size of the government's first US$1 billion green bond in 2019. The city’s government announced nearly three years ago that it would seek to issue up to HK$100 billion (US$12.9 billion) in green bonds as it strives to become an international green finance centre.

“The success of the offering demonstrates investor confidence in Hong Kong’s credit strengths and economic fundamentals in the long term,” Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said in a news release. “The issuance will help catalyse further growth of the green and sustainable bond market, particularly leveraging on Hong Kong’s strengths as a leading green finance hub in the region.”

The announcement came as the Airport Authority Hong Kong was marketing its own 10-year and 30-year US dollar-denominated debt on Wednesday, marking the second time it has come to the market since issuing US$1.5 billion in senior perpetual capital securities in December.