Enhancing capacity and efficiency in issuing green bonds, that is the ultimate objective of a globally unique five-day-executive education program for emerging market bankers to debut June 24,2019. The program is co-led by SSFC’s Senior Advisor Hanna Setterberg.
Question: What do you aim to achieve with this first-of-its-kind program?
Answer: The aim of the program is to provide the participants with a tool box so that they are able to emit green bonds when they return home after the program. The participants work at financial institutions in emerging market economies such as Nigeria, Turkey and Thailand, and financial institutions are important intermediaries in terms of channelling money into projects that help us transition into a more sustainable society.
During the on-site module of the program that takes place here in Sweden, we want to provide participants with the tool box they need to improve their ability to emit green bonds, as well as finding the green projects eligible for funding. Aside from that, we also want to foster participants’ belief that they can be part of the solution that is sustainable finance.
Q: How do you aim to do that?
A: Over the course of our five days together, we will address both the bigger picture of global challenges and the sustainable finance context, but also have very hands-on workshops for example on green bonds principles.
The idea is that at the end of this week, they will have already started their journey towards emitting green bonds. We will then have a follow-up webinar a few months after the program to talk with participants about how far they have come, what possible obstacles have been and how they can be addressed.
Q: Why have this training here in Sweden?
A: Sweden has come a long way with regard to sustainable finance. It was one of Sweden’s major banks, namely SEB, that initiated the first issuance of a green bond through the World Bank back in 2008. In January 2019 alone, more than half of all bonds issued in Sweden were green.
That said, sustainable finance is something that is driven by other actors in Sweden as well – the real estate industry, for one, but also cities and municipalities. The city of Gothenburg was the first city to issue a green bond, and we also have Kommuninvest, a credit market company owned by smaller and medium-sized municipalities and county councils that gives its members access to affordable green financing. Both Gothenburg and Kommuninvest have received recognition for their efforts from the UNFCCC, and I do think Sweden is internationally recognized for its leadership on green bonds.
