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Citi Publishes Green Bond Report

September 16, 2019
Philip Brown, Managing Director, Green & Sustainable Capital Markets
Val Smith, Chief Sustainability Officer, Citi
Elissa Steinberg, Head of Issuance and Liability Management

 

As a co-founder of the ICMA Green Bond Principles in 2014, Citi has been a leader in the development of the green bond market. Over the five years since the Principles' publication, total issuance rose from approximately $36 billion to over $137 billion so far in 2019. According to BloombergNEF, the first six months of 2019 was the largest half-year period yet for green, social and sustainability bond issuance.

In January 2019, Citi continued to drive this rapidly expanding market when we took on an expanded role in the green bonds space, evolving from underwriter to issuer with our inaugural benchmark green bond. The €1 billion 3-year fixed rate note is funding renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable transportation, water quality and conservation, and green building projects, many of which are financed as part of our $100 Billion Environmental Finance Goal. This benchmark bond was followed by the issuance of $143 million equivalent across 18 structured green bond private placements.

These green bond issuances were an important milestone for Citi and a signal internally and externally of our commitment to sustainable finance and to global growth and progress. They also illustrate how Citi's opportunity to scale sustainable solutions and global impact is driven by partnerships with our clients.

Today we are releasing our 2019 Green Bond Report featuring details on the Citi green bonds issued this year and reporting on the projects financed by those bonds in addition to their estimated environmental impacts. We were guided in our reporting by Citi's Green Bond Framework, which was reviewed by Sustainalytics, an independent provider of sustainability research, analysis and services to investors and financial institutions globally. Sustainalytics provided an assessment and second party opinion on the framework's alignment with the transparency and reporting requirements of the Green Bond Principles.

Working alongside our clients, we are committed to sustainable finance and contributing to the continued development of this market. Through Citi's Sustainable Progress Strategy, our progress toward achieving our $100 Billion Environmental Finance Goal and Citi's green bond issuance, we are helping to finance a more sustainable, low-carbon global economy. We will continue to look for opportunities to develop and innovate sustainable finance products and services and report on our progress every step of the way.

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