Luxembourg Stock Exchange cemented its position as the leading exchange for sustainable debt in 2023, welcoming 554 new green, social, sustainability and sustainability-linked (GSSS) bonds which raised a total of €207 billion ($225 billion).
This included about 70 gender-focused bonds, as the exchange forged ahead in its efforts to support gender equality and women's empowerment.
It followed the launch in 2022 of its gender-focused bond 'flag', on its dedicated platform for sustainable finance, the Luxembourg Green Exchange (LGX), to highlight bonds that raise financing for projects advancing gender equality and women's empowerment.
To raise awareness around gender finance, in May 2023, it published a study, Linking gender and finance: An overview of the gender-focused bond market, on 169 outstanding listed GSSS bonds identified via LGX's DataHub, as well as a new two-hour LGX Academy module on how capital markets contribute to the growth of gender finance.
Last year also saw the exchange launch several new and complementary agreements with counterparts from emerging markets including Chongwa (Macao) Financial Asset Exchange Co., China Everbright Bank, the Abu Dhabi Exchange and Bolsa de Valores de Cabo Verde to advance the sustainable finance agenda in new regions.
In return, last year saw bond listings from emerging markets on LuxSE and LGX, including the first Cabo Verdean green bond focused on the blue economy, issued by the International Investment Bank and known as the iib Marine and Ocean-Based Blue Bond.
Meanwhile, its LGX Academy to grow sustainable finance knowledge in new markets delivered sustainable finance training in Cabo Verde, China, the Ivory Coast, Rwanda and Sri Lanka.
Luxembourg Stock Exchange's CEO, Julie Becker, said: “Contributing to closing the gaps in financing for sustainable development in emerging markets and gender equality were a key driver for the Luxembourg Stock Exchange in 2023, shaping many of the initiatives we implemented, the securities we displayed and cooperations that we entered into.
"Addressing these gaps will play a key role in defining whether the goals set out in the Paris Agreement and by the UN SDGs are met or missed and so it is an honour to have our efforts in these areas recognised once more by Environmental Finance.”
As of 31 December 2023, LGX encompassed 1,874 GSSS bonds from 309 issuers in 59 countries, totalling about €977 billion in funding for sustainable development.
Luxembourg Stock Exchange has a long history of success in the Environmental Finance Sustainable Debt awards, claiming the title for best exchange each year since 2017 except for 2022.
