Trainee reporter Guo Jichuan
As a financing tool that has been vigorously developed in the field of green finance in recent years, green bonds have become an important boost for enterprises' green transformation. According to statistics from Flush iFinD, as of June 9, since the beginning of this year, the scale of green bond issuance has reached 361.56 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 73.72%
This year, the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges actively promoted the product development and innovation of green bonds. The first batch of green bonds specially designed to serve the development of the marine economy was successfully issued in March. Applicable Guidelines No. 2 - Corporate Bonds of Specific Types, and introduced low-carbon transition bonds and low-carbon transition-linked bonds.
"The current development of green bonds is facing a historic market opportunity." You Yi, director of the Management Committee of Hainan Green Finance Research Institute, said in an interview with a reporter from Securities Daily that the bond market has a large financing scale, a long term and a degree of marketization. The high-level characteristics are in line with the financing needs of mainstream green projects, and the development space of green bonds is huge.
According to the analysis of the research report of CICC, the issuance and stock of domestic green bonds have increased significantly since 2021. Although China's green bond market started relatively late, it has developed rapidly. In 2018, it became the world's second largest source of green bonds. In 2021, the green bond market will expand significantly, and the issuance will reach 611 billion yuan in 2021.
According to You Yi, green project funds previously mainly relied on government investment support. With the participation of more and more market entities as issuers or investors, the functional advantages of my country's green bond market, such as resource allocation, risk management and market pricing, have become increasingly prominent. The supporting role of development continues to strengthen.
"For example, the low-carbon transition-linked bonds launched by the Shanghai Stock Exchange focus on the transformation practice of bond issuers, linking bond terms with the achievement of performance goals of bond issuers in the low-carbon transition field, without special requirements for the use of raised funds. In this way, it can adapt to the financing needs of a wider range of transformation entities and promote enterprises to achieve their transformation goals." You Yi said.
Judging from the current investment direction of green bonds in my country, they mainly focus on green services, energy conservation and environmental protection, and government-led public utilities. In addition to protecting the environment or reducing the use of high-carbon energy, it will also involve urban construction, economic development, humanistic harmony, and resource protection. The concept of "green" is no longer single.
Zhang Lichao, a senior researcher at Guosen Securities, told the "Securities Daily" reporter that the current domestic and foreign issuance environment of the green bond market is good, the issuance scale is growing rapidly, the issuance varieties and issuance methods are increasingly abundant, and the raised funds are widely used in clean energy, clean transportation, and pollution prevention and control. , addressing climate change and other green projects.
"Green bonds are an important part of green finance, which aims to provide financial support for green and low-carbon industries by giving play to their resource allocation function in the capital market. Positive meaning." Zhang Lichao said.
The results of relevant research by the Hainan Green Finance Research Institute show that companies have improved their environmental performance after issuing green bonds, and the environmental score will generally be further improved. You Yi said that enterprises actively fulfilling their green social responsibilities can enhance their social image, build brand value, seize market opportunities for green development, and enhance their market competitiveness and financial performance. This is also the reason why socially responsible investing (or ESG investing) has become popular around the world, and "green" has become the focus of market investment.
"On the one hand, green bond financing costs are low and the financing cycle is long, and on the other hand, green bonds support a wide range of fields. For example, green bonds from exchanges support the development of green finance, there are no special restrictions on industries and industries, and they can be used to support energy-saving and carbon-reduction technologies in various industries. Research and development and application, clean and efficient development and utilization of fossil energy, energy conservation and consumption reduction of new infrastructure, improvement of energy conservation and environmental protection in industrial parks, etc.” You Yi said.
Guo Haifei, deputy director of the Green Creation Office of the Advisory Committee of the China Investment Association, analyzed the "Securities Daily" reporter that whether it is green corporate bonds, green corporate bonds, or green debt financing tools, there are certain advantages in the approval level. At the same time, the issuance cost of green bonds It is also lower than ordinary bonds, and it is even enough to cover the costs of third-party green certification and information disclosure. Compared with ordinary bonds, green bonds can be issued with a longer term. For example, green corporate bonds and green debt financing instruments can issue long-term products with a term of 7 years, while ordinary corporate bonds generally have a term of 5 years, and the term of ordinary medium notes is shorter.
"The issuance of green bonds shows the company's good image of attaching importance to environmental protection and responsible investment, bringing intangible brand value and effects to the company, and the comprehensive cost of green bond issuance is gradually decreasing." Guo Haifei said.
(Editor in charge: Guan Jing)
