IDB launches program to improve transparency of green bonds in Latin America

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and its private arm IDB Invest, launched Tuesday a tool to increase the “transparency” of the Latin American and Caribbean green bond market and with it the “confidence” to boost their use in the region.

“A greater degree of transparency is essential to increase the degree of investor confidence that Latin America and the Caribbean is making appropriate green investments,” said Juan Antonio Ketterer, head of the IDB’s Connectivity, Markets and Finance Division in a statement released by the agency.

Ketterer remarked that the goal is to boost investments through green bonds in the region at a time of growing financing needs in the face of the threat of climate change.

The digital platform, with the acronym GBTP, promotes the harmonization and standardization of information on green bonds by providing data on the performance, impact and methodologies of each green bond in the region.

In this respect, it uses blockchain technology, which facilitates reliable data reporting. Globally, the green bond market reached a record US$1.1 trillion worth of issuance in 2020, of which Latin America and the Caribbean represents only 2%.

Since 2016, the IDB Group has given strong support to the region’s green capital market, backing more than 30% of issuances in terms of volume.

The tool will be presented this Tuesday at an event to be attended by the president of the multilateral bank, Mauricio Claver-Carone.