The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) has announced the introduction of listing and trading of Green Bonds for the first time in the Sri Lankan stock market, with effect from yesterday (25).
Under the Green Bonds concept, proceeds are invested exclusively in green projects that generate climate or other environmental benefits, for example in renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable waste management, sustainable land use (forestry and agriculture), biodiversity, clean transportation, and clean water, the CSE notes.
The objective of enabling regulations for the issue of green bonds in the Sri Lankan stock market is to facilitate Sri Lankan corporates to raise capital that will be used for green projects and to foster greater transparency and accountability in the use of proceeds from the Green Bond, and to ensure reporting of the impact of the green projects for which the proceeds of the bond was used.
The use of proceeds from the Green Bond should be aligned with the Green Bond Principles, which are accepted by the CSE. The accepted Green Bond Principles of the CSE are the Green Bond Principles by the International Capital Markets Association (ICMA), the European Green Bond Standards (EUGBS), and the Climate Bonds Initiative Standards (CBI Standards).
