Expert meeting on Greening debt capital markets in the EU’s Eastern Partner countries and Kazakhstan: The role for green bonds

The expert meeting on “Greening debt capital markets in the EU’s Eastern Partner countries and Kazakhstan: The role for green bonds” took place virtually on 09-10 June 2022.

Meeting objectives

The major objective of this meeting was to discuss and calibrate the main findings and conclusions that have emerged from the analysis of the role that debt capital markets in the EU’s Eastern Partner (EaP) countries and Kazakhstan could play in financing long-term green investments. More specifically, the discussion sought to review the main elements identified in the draft report, including:

  • opportunities for, and constraints to, local capital markets to raise and scale up finance for green investments;
  • experience of countries from other regions of the world with issuing green bonds;
  • capacity-building needs across relevant stakeholders;
  • priority areas of further work and how the OECD, EU and other donors and International Finance Institutions (IFIs) could help catalyse the use of green finance.

Participants

The meeting brought together government representatives from the EaP countries and Kazakhstan, market regulators, and market participants. Experts from the EU Member States, the European Commission, international organisations, IFIs, and other relevant international bodies (verifiers, service providers) were also invited to take part in the meeting.

Background

Generally, capital markets in the EaP countries and Kazakhstan are still developing and so far have contributed little to financing green investments. Private sources of finance, such as equity or bonds, that can complement bank financing, have been slow to emerge. These countries are lagging behind other regions in the world in tapping into bond markets as a source of long-term green finance.

Recently, there have been signs that green bonds are becoming an asset class in its own right and begin to gain traction in the region. Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine have issued green bonds which were then followed by further green finance transactions. The regulations and the market infrastructure supporting the expansion of the local capital markets in the region are being developed and improved. However, this issuance is still limited, only nascent and takes part in the corporate sector, with rather little engagement by governments.

The current OECD study on green bonds aims to assess the role that bond markets in the region can realistically play in financing long-term green investments. The study is organised around analysing three major issues: (i) the level of development of debt capital markets in light of feasibility of introducing/scaling up green bonds; (ii) barriers to, and opportunities for, scaling up green bonds in the local capital markets, and (iii) the role governments should play in supporting green bonds markets in the region with the objective to unlock additional resources for green investment.

The event was organised as part of the “European Union for Environment” Programme (EU4Environment) with support from the European Union and Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMU).

For more information on the event, please contact: nelly.petkova@oecd.org.

Agenda

Summary Record

Presentation slides

Session 2. Scaling up green bond markets: Experience and challenges in the EaP countries and Kazakhstan

Role of bond markets in mobilising climate finance in developing countries (Paul Horrocks, OECD)

Greening debt capital markets in the EU’s Eastern Partner countries and Kazakhstan (Alexander Lehmann, Frankfurt School of Finance)

Issuer perspectives:

Session 3. Current challenges and possible future developments in the EaP capital markets

Impact of the war in Ukraine on the financial and capital markets in the EaP countries and Kazakhstan (Collette Wheeler, World Bank)

Transition bonds and sustainability-linked bonds (Sean Kidney, Climate Bonds Initiative)

Session 4. Investor perspectives

The role of verifiers (Enrico Tessadro, Sustainalytics)

Session 5. The agenda for governments and regulators

The role of regulations in defining green projects and loan portfolios:

The role of the state: The Hungarian Experience (Gabor Gyura, Hungary)

Video recordings: Session 1 | Session 2 | Session 3 | Session 4 | Session 5 | Session 6 | Session 7

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