UN Environment’s Finance Initiative and Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE) have joined forces to deliver a Green Bonds Training Programme, supported by The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development to promote the development of greener and more inclusive growth in Mauritius.
The PAGE/UNEP FI workshops will be held for potential green bond investors, issuers and verifiers/second-party opinion providers on 9-10 May in partnership with the Frankfurt School – UNEP Collaborating Centre for Climate & Sustainable Energy Finance, the Climate Bonds Initiative and the Center for International Climate Research (Cicero). To ensure that the training programme is tailored to the jurisdiction and the technical needs of key stakeholders that would be involved in issuing and investing in green bonds in Mauritius, the Stock Exchange of Mauritius (SEM) hosted information sessions in February 2018.
The development of a local Green Bonds market aims to create the opportunity for public and private sector issuers to access lower-cost capital to finance their “green” projects by issuing and listing green bonds on the SEM. This initiative is part of the SEM’s drive to promote sustainability as a Partner Exchange of the Sustainable Stock Exchange Initiative (SSE). Market education and training are among actions that the SSE highlights in voluntary guidance on How Stock Exchanges can Grow Green Finance.
The Green Bonds workshops will cover topics including:
- Green bond definition(s)
- Global market size, break down into developed and developing markets
- Issuer types and motives
- Asset owners ‘and asset managers’ motives
- Types of green bonds and structures
- Client demand
- Risk profile differential for green bonds
- Pricing
- Reporting requirements
- Understanding verification and second opinion schemes
- How to issue a green bond
- How to set up a green bond framework
- Supporting frameworks
- Practical experience in designing and evaluating a green bond framework.
- Approaches to environmental integrity
- a) The Green Bond Principles
- b) Green standards vs. individual frameworks
- c) External reviews
- d) Impact reporting and verification
- Lessons learned from a decade of providing second opinions on green bonds and Climate Bonds Initiative’s certifications
- How to assess an issuer’s green bond framework – key considerations and practical experience.
- Understand key concerns and issues when assessing compliance with the Green Bond Principles and the Climate Bonds Standards
- How to identify typical strengths and pitfalls