9 Jun 2020
NIB re-elected to Green and Social Bond Principles Executive Committee
At the Annual general meeting held on 9 June, it was announced that NIB was re-elected as a member of the Executive Committee of the Green Bond Principles (GBP) and the Social Bond Principles (SBP).
The GBP and SBP are sets of voluntary process guidelines that aim to promote integrity in the green bond market and in the social bond market. The Principles give bond issuers guidance on transparency, disclosure and reporting to provide investors with sufficient information to evaluate the environmental and social impact of their bond investments.
The Executive Committee is the main body within the GBP/SBP that develops and decides on further amendments to the Principles. The International Capital Markets Association (ICMA) acts as secretariat to the GBP.
NIB was first elected member of the GBP’s Executive Committee in June 2016, and then re-elected in June 2018. During 2018–2020, NIB acted as chairman of the Executive Committee. NIB is one of the coordinators of the Q&A Guidance Handbook and contributes to various work streams, such as the core Impact Reporting working group.
“The Principles will stay relevant by demonstrating impact and by contributing to changing capital flows towards a low-carbon, socially sustainable economy. It is important to maintain high integrity around the green and social objectives, and at the same time to be at the forefront to guide the evolving market. We will therefore continue to support issuers of use-of-proceeds instruments, as well as other instruments, like the Sustainability-linked bonds in achieving the common objectives and global targets,” says Angela Brusas, Director, Funding & Investor Relations at NIB.
“NIB will continue to provide full commitment to the Principles with its relevant and experienced staff. Alongside its extensive experience in capital markets, the Bank is able to allocate environmental and socioeconomic resources to working groups, Q&A taskforces, etc. – resources that have practical experience in analysing environmental benefits and the social and governance aspects of projects.”
The Bank established its NIB Environmental Bond (NEB) framework in 2011, under which it can issue green bonds. The proceeds of these bonds are used to finance projects that have a positive impact on the environment. The framework is verified by CICERO. NIB has issued 22 NEBs, and is a leading issuer of green bonds.