The four-part Environmental Finance ESG in Fixed Income conference series will kick-off today with its 'Global' one-day event, tackling some of the challenges and opportunities facing the rapidly growing sustainable bond market.
According to Environmental Finance Data, total issuance of green, social, sustainability and sustainability-linked bonds in 2021 crossed the $1 trillion milestone – up from the already record-breaking $600 billion total recorded in 2020.
With rising scale, however, comes rising scrutiny as issuers, investors and regulators press for greater data, transparency, and impact from the still nascent market.
The speakers providing their insight into these themes include Banque de France's Jean Boissinot discussing green bond engagement strategies for central banks, a panel including Sustainable Fitch, Manulife Investment, APG Asset Management and the Climate Bond Initiative on the financial challenges of reaching 'net zero' emissions, and the Nature Conservancy's Slav Gatchev on its recent ground-breaking 'blue' financing for Belize and how this approach can be harnessed to help emerging market conservation and adaptation projects.
The ESG in Fixed Income conference series provides an ideal occasion for market participants of all types to discuss the critical challenges and opportunities posed to this increasingly significant fixed income asset class.
The one-day virtual 'Global' event – which starts today at 1300 GMT with more than 500 delegates already attending – will tackle topics including how to make transition and net-zero strategies work, harnessing the power of the fixed income market to support environmental projects in emerging markets, and best practice for applying ESG to asset-backed securities.
The global event will be followed by three in-person ESG in Fixed Income events later in 2022. The series heads to London on 28 April for its EMEA event, which will be in-person, before the Americas event takes place in New York on 28 September and the final Asia event in Singapore on 15 November.