14 February 2012: The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has issued US$1 billion through its Green Bond Program. As the largest finance bond scheme so far, IFC aims to engage large-scale investors from the private sector to support climate change projects in developing countries.
Created in 2010, the Green Bond Program sets a precedent for socially responsible investment projects. Having already invested $1.6 billion in 2012 in climate projects, IFC’s goal is to double its resources for climate-related projects by around $3 billion per year by 2015. The main pathways to reduce greenhouse emissions concentrate in projects associated with the rehabilitation of power plants and transmissions facilitates, new green technologies and renewable energy.
Investors in the bond include: 3M Company, Blackrock, the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS), Calvert Investments, Ellomay Capital, Fjärde AP-fonden, Ford Motor Company, Local Government Super (LGS), Parnassus Investments, Praxis Intermediate Income Fund, SSGA High Quality Green Bond Fund, TIAA-CREF, and the Washington State Investment Board.
IFC is a member of the World Bank Group and focuses on development projects related to the private sector. [IFC Press Release] [IFC Green Bond Brochure]