Green bonds saw another year of record growth and Environmental Finance is calling for entries for its annual Green Bond Awards to honour the market leaders.
The awards cover the labelled green bond market for the calendar year 2017, and seek to reward those that excel and innovate, or have played a key role in developing the rapidly evolving and growing green bond market.
According to data from Environmental Finance's Green Bond Database, the combined value of green bond issues reached an unprecedented $124.5 billion in 2017. This figure is expected to push higher in 2018, as the market gains traction.
Last year's awards saw Apple win Bond of the Year award for corporates, thanks to its $1.5 billion issue shortly after US President Donald Trump withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement.
Rabobank's issue was voted Bond of the Year for banks, while SEB's Christopher Flensborg was voted Personality of the Year.
Read our coverage of last year's winners here.
This year, the awards have been expanded to reflect the growth of the market, with new categories added, including:
- A new award for Bond of the Year - Sovereign has been created, which will be separate from the Bond of the Year - SSA award.
- A category for Lead Manager of the Year - Sovereign has also been created;
- A new award has been added for Green Bond Fund of the Year;
- Social bonds and sustainability bonds have each been given their own category;
The judging process will remain the same as last year. In the first round of judging, the Environmental Finance editorial team will review the submitted entry material to generate a shortlist of entries. The shortlist will be passed to an independent panel of judges to vote in a secret ballot. All judges are investors from across the globe, each chosen for their knowledge, objectivity and credibility.
Winners will be announced on the Environmental Finance website in March and will be featured in the Spring edition of the magazine.
The process of assembling the leading investors in the market has already begun.
To enter the awards, visit: https://www.environmental-finance.com/content/awards/green-bond-awards-2018/
A full list of the categories the Green Bond Awards:
Bonds
These categories seek to acknowledge bond deals for their innovation, speed of transaction, pricing and environmental and social risk management/benefits.
- Green bond of the Year – corporate
- Green bond of the Year – supranational, sub-sovereign and agency (SSA)
- Green bond of the Year – municipal
- Green bond of the Year – local authority
- Green bond of the Year – bank
- Green bond of the Year – sovereign
- Project bond of the Year
- Asset-backed/asset-based bond of the Year
- Social bond of the Year
- Sustainability bond of the Year
Teams and innovative thinking
These categories seek to recognise the teams who are working tirelessly to grow and develop the green bond market. These are the teams that have brought to market new green bond deals through their thought-leadership and innovative thinking.
- Award for innovation – bond structure
- Award for innovation – use of proceeds
- Initiative of the Year
Companies
These categories seek to recognise the companies that are supporting and nurturing the sustainable growth of the market. The companies should demonstrate their innovative thinking, speed of delivery, quality assurances and transparency. The judges will consider the company's relative size and scope of business.
- Lead manager of the Year – corporate
- Lead manager of the Year – SSA
- Lead manager of the Year – municipal
- Lead manager of the Year – local authority
- Lead manager of the Year – bank
- Lead manager of the Year – sovereign
- External opinion provider of the Year
- Impact report of the Year (for issuers only)
- Green bond fund of the Year
- Law firm of the Year
- Exchange of the Year
- Index of the Year
Personality of the Year
This award will be presented to the individual who has made a notable impact that benefits the industry due to their strategic vision and community engagement. This award is open to all industry participants, including regulators and politicians. Please describe the role and responsibilities of the individual and explain how the nominee is excelling in their work, with reference to examples of intelligent thinking, bold actions and tangible results.
