Sweden is the eighth greenest nation in the world, according to the 2020 Environmental Performance Index, which ranks 180 countries according to their sustainability. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB) has been a pioneer in the green bond market, where it has always punched above its weight. The two came together in Sweden’s first sovereign green bond, for which SEB was a “special adviser”, as well as a joint lead manager.
SEB – still controlled by Sweden’s most famous family, the Wallenbergs – has been a leader in green finance for more than a decade. In 2008, it structured the World Bank’s first green bond, largely the work of its present head of climate and sustainable finance, Christopher Flensborg. Mr Flensborg’s colleagues describe him as “the father of the green bond” and he remains a highly-regarded figure in the climate bond universe.
