Confirming what now feels like an established trend, sustainable finance hit a new record in the first quarter of this year. The value of sustainable debt issuances and loans arranged in the first three months of 2021 was about $315bn — three times higher than in the same period a year earlier — according to analysis by the Institute of International Finance (IIF).
The latest numbers bring the volume of total outstanding debt related to green and social factors to $2.27bn, and on track to reach $3tn by the end of the year, says the IIF. The largest share of this space is still taken up by mature markets, led by the US and France.
Interestingly, however, while the largest volumes come from private sector issuers and borrowers outside of the financial sector, it is financial companies, supranational organisations and governments that show the fastest growth.
