MANILA: The Asian Development Bank said Wednesday it plans to issue its first clean energy bond to raise funds for renewable energy projects in Asia.
The development lender said it would match the amount raised by the bond, which is expected to be issued later this month and would target Japanese retail investors.
The bond issuance will be arranged through HSBC Securities (Japan) Ltd. and will be sold throughout Japan by more than 20 securities companies.
The bond will have four tranches, one denominated in Australian dollars, another in Turkish lira and two tranches in Brazilian real.
They will have tenors — the period to maturity — of between four and seven years.
The ADB is targeting $2 billion a year in clean energy investments by 2013 to focus on wind, solar, water, geothermal and biomass — plant matter such as sugarcane used to generate electricity. It has invested more than $5 billion in clean energy since 2005.
The use of coal, oil and other carbon-based fossil fuels to meet Asia's rapidly growing energy needs has added to the release of greenhouse gases that many scientists believe contribute to climate change.
The bank said that insufficient energy investment in the region hampers developing countries from reaching their full potential, with more than 800 million people — or a quarter of the population of the Asia-Pacific area — still without access to electricity and 1.8 billion people relying on traditional biomass fuels for cooking and heating. - AP
