Ahren Lester

Articles by Ahren Lester

  • Pakistan makes 'strong step forward' with debut sovereign green sukuk

    19 May 2025

    Pakistan has raised PKR32 billion ($113 million) from its debut sovereign green sukuk, with the "milestone" deal more than five-times oversubscribed and expectations for more sustainable sukuk deals in the country.

  • Middle Eastern sustainable bond market 'building strong momentum'

    16 May 2025

    Middle Eastern sustainable bond issuance has significantly increased in recent years, in particular since 2023 as the region hosted the high-profile UN COP climate summit.

  • Masdar secures largest green bond orderbook

    16 May 2025

    Masdar has raised $1 billion from its third green bond in a deal which was more than six times oversubscribed, securing its largest orderbook to date.

  • Two Nepalese banks inaugurate local green bond market

    15 May 2025

    The Nepalese green bond market has been kick-started after two banks in the country issued debut green bonds in recent weeks.

  • Sveafastigheter publishes debut green bond framework

    15 May 2025

    Sveafastigheter has published its inaugural green bond framework focused on green building projects, setting it on course to join more than 60 other Swedish property firms in the sustainable bond market.

  • KfW sails past $100bn green bond milestone amid upsized 2025 plans

    14 May 2025

    KfW has now crossed the $100 billion green bond issuance milestone after a €4 billion ($4.5 billion) deal, with the German development bank expecting to surpass its initial €10 billion green bond fundraise target in 2025.

  • SocGen: Blue bonds push is a 'positive move'

    14 May 2025

    Although cautious about the need for additional sustainable bond labels, Société Générale argues that 'blue bonds' are a "positive"...

  • Sustainable bonds still present 'challenge' for EU 'dark green' funds

    13 May 2025

    EU regulatory focus on 'look-through' impact assessment for labelled sustainable bond investments poses a challenge for EU 'dark green' funds, according to MainStreet Partners - despite strong compliance between sustainable bonds and Paris-Aligned Benchmarks (PAB).

  • Cautious optimism as banking regulators hold firm on climate risk work

    13 May 2025

    The outcome of a meeting of the global banking regulators on the Basel Committee was "not as bad as it could have been" with regard to their climate-related financial risk activities, but there remains uncertainty about the future of some of its significant projects.

  • Gulf Transition and Sustainable Finance 2025 conference round-up

    01 May 2025

    Nearly 18 months after the UAE hosted the mammoth COP28 summit, Environmental Finance's focused and thoughtful new event in Abu Dhabi highlighted a region ready to pitch a pragmatic but proactive approach to the transition. Ahren Lester reports