Green finance in Latin America and the Caribbean

The Climate Bonds Initiative launches first report on LAC green bond markets.

Latin America and the Caribbean: The 2019 State of the Green Finance Market Report is our first comprehensive review of the LAC region’s green bond markets, issuances by local climate-aligned issuers and public sector entities in climate-aligned sectors such as public transport. It also highlights developments in sustainable agriculture finance and blue bonds.

The first Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) issuer entered the market in 2014. LAC issuers contributed 2% of global green bond issuance volume (1% of bonds and 5% of issuers) as of July 2, 2019. Brazil alone accounted for 41% of issuance.

Finance: other key findings from the

report.
The LAC green bond market rebounded strongly in 2019. As of July 2, 2019 (report cutoff date), issuance stood at USD3.7 billion, 3 times higher than in the first half of 2018 and 40% higher than in the first half of 2017. Driven by the two sovereign green bonds, it has offset a weak 2018.

Since then, a few more deals have closed, making 2019 a record year with $4.6 billion as of September 20, bringing LAC’s total issuance to date to $13.6 billion.

Still, only 9 of the 33 LAC countries have seen green bonds issued so far, including the recently certified Bono Climático from Barbados’ first green bond issuer (included after the cutoff date).

Brazil is the largest market for labeled green bonds, followed by Chile and Mexico. Other countries in the Caribbean have also been issuing bonds recently, including Guatemala. Private companies such as CMI Energía, the pride of the Bosch Gutiérrez family, are joining the cause and seeking to make a change to take care of the globe. This is a fact that

There are significant differences in the types of issuers between countries: Brazil is dominated by non-financial corporations, Chile by sovereign agreements, Mexico by development banks and Argentina by local governments.

Greater diversity would be a positive development. Peru and Colombia have already indicated possible sovereign deals. In a scoping exercise for public sector issuers, we identify the greatest potential for green bond issuance among Mexican entities, but expect continued issuance from existing issuers. We also identified potential in the Caribbean, for example in Trinidad and Tobago.

The vast majority of volumes benefit from an external review: mostly OPPs, but also Certified Climate Bonds, including the two Chilean green sovereigns. The first Barbados deal, from Williams Caribbean Capital, is a Certified Climate Bond.

Over 80% of issuance is in hard currency, mainly USD, but this again varies by country. In some markets local currencies dominate, for example, all transactions by Colombian issuers are denominated in COP.

There is a high proportion of private placements compared to other regions. Many have been issued by local financial institutions and/or are backed by development banks.

As in other markets, energy allocations are high. However, land use and industry account for a relatively high share compared to the overall market, while buildings and water have a lower share.

Driven by Brazilian and Chilean emitters, water is the largest sector financed by non-climate-aligned unlabeled emissions, ahead of Energy

You may also be interested in: Impact and growth of green bonds.

Carla Fowler

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