Ahren Lester

Philippine bank closes sustainability bonds early amid 'considerable demand'

The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has closed the offer period early for its debut PHP5 billion ($90 million) sustainability bond after the deal secured "considerable demand" from investors.

NRW.Bank raises €1bn from first social bond under expanded framework

Major sustainable bond issuer NRW.Bank has raised €1 billion ($1.1 billion) from its first social bond under a recently updated and expanded framework from the German development bank.

'EU GBS is not burdensome regulation,' says PwC

Issuers should "start preparing early" to adopt the EU Green Bond Standard (EU GBS) as the groundbreaking regulation is likely to make green bond reporting a "natural extension" of their broader sustainability reporting requirements, according to consultancy PwC.

Issuance-level sustainable bond ratings can 'highlight refinancing risk'

Investors are increasingly looking at the potential for instrument-level sustainable bond ratings to help tackle the challenge of 'greenwashing' risk associated with bond and project refinancing.

Webinar: Issuance-level ratings to boost credibility of sustainable bond market

Issuance-level sustainable bond assessments are "critical" to help the market grow, a webinar heard.

Exclusive: KfW publishes 'best practice' clean transport impact methodology

KfW has made its "scientifically sound" methodology for calculating the emissions reduction impact of the "complex" clean transport projects financed through its green bonds publicly available to support the quality of reporting in the market.

Latvian water firm launches 'European Green Bond' debut

Latvian water utility firm Rīgas ūdens has launched a €60 million ($68 million) green bond programme using the recently introduced European Green Bond (EuGB) label.

Sustainability bonds 'key instrument' to resolving just transition challenges

Sustainability bonds provide an important means to resolve challenges to integrating 'just transition' in sustainable bond markets, according to London School of Economics (LSE).

EAAIF surpasses 2025 fundraise target with $325m debt deal

Sustainable sukuk 'powerful enabler' for transition

The UN has called for the development of common sustainable sukuk standards and a focus on closing the "knowledge gap" among global investors in order to unlock the potential of Islamic bond markets for supporting the climate transition.