Economic Survey 2019-2020: India has become the Second Largest Emerging Green Bond Market after China

News: According to Economic Survey 2019-20, India has the Second largest Emerging Green Bond Market after China. India has also joined the International Platform on Sustainable Finance (IPSF) in 2019 to scale up environmentally sustainable investments.

Facts:

Green Bonds:

• These are fixed-income financial instruments issued for funding of specific projects which have positive environmental and climate benefits.
• Yes Bank was the first Indian Bank to issue Green Infrastructure Bonds (GIBs) in India in 2015.

Avenues where these funds can be invested:

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has allocated eight high-level categories as “green projects”—

1. renewable energy,
2.  clean transportation,
3.  sustainable water management,
4. climate-change adaptation,
5. energy efficiency,
6. sustainable waste management,
7. sustainable land use,
8. biodiversity conservation

Additional Information:

International Platform on Sustainable Finance (IPSF)

• Launched in 2019 by Argentina, Canada, Chile, China, India, Kenya, Morocco and the European Union
• Aim: To scale up the mobilization of private capital towards environmentally sustainable investments
• Objectives:

o   promote best practices in environmentally sustainable finance;

o   Identify barriers and opportunities to scale up environmentally sustainable finance internationally;

o   Enhance international coordination on environmentally sustainable finance issues.