When Australia issued an inaugural A$7 billion ($4.7 billion; €4.3 billion) green sovereign bond in June, it was not only a landmark for the country, but also for bond buyers.
Almost all of the world’s top-rated sovereigns have now joined the ranks of green bond issuers. The Netherlands was the first triple-A sovereign to go green in 2019, and Germany and Sweden followed suit in 2020.
Then in 2022, the green bond boom year saw four more triple-As come to market – Canada, Denmark, Singapore and Switzerland – as well as AA+/Aaa New Zealand.
That leaves just two outliers in the triple-A cohort, Luxembourg and Norway. The big gap in the market, however, is one notch below – the US. So far, a green US Treasury has remained elusive – but there are signs that the world’s largest sovereign borrower may be slowly moving towards issuance.
One source with direct knowledge of discussions told Responsible Investor that,…
