The Philippines has sought European investors’ support for an inaugural government green bonds offering worth at least $500 million, to raise funds for clean energy projects, the government said on Friday.
Carlos Dominguez, the finance secretary, said the sale of the environmental, social and governance (ESG) sovereign bonds, would be undertaken “in the coming weeks”.
The Southeast Asian country aims for a 75% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 under its commitment to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, a more ambitious goal than its a previous target of a 70% cut set a few years ago.
To help achieve the target, it plans to retire its coal-fired power plants and seek more investments in renewable energy.
Support Necessary
Dominguez said Manila was determined to move ahead with its emission reduction goal, but pointed out that financial support from wealthier countries was necessary.
On Thursday, he said the government was in talks with various banks on the appropriate structure for the green bond offer, and was “looking at a window of opportunity in different currency markets”.
IFR said Manila had approached Bank of China, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Mizuho Bank, Morgan Stanley, Standard Chartered and UBS for a potential $1-2 billion bond offering in the ESG format.
With its maiden offer, the government is following the footsteps of Philippine companies that tapped green bond markets in recent years, including BDO Unibank Inc and Ayala Corp’s power unit, AC Energy Corp.
- Reuters, with additional editing by George Russell
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