Our USD 1 billion green bond, issued on October 8, marked a milestone tenth green bond issuance for MuniFin. We issued our first green bond in 2016 and have been pioneering green finance in Finland ever since.
MuniFin issues both green and social bonds. The total outstanding balance for these funding instruments is over EUR 4.5 billion.
“The share of green and social finance is growing at a good pace and in line with our targets. Both clients and investors are increasingly attentive to questions about sustainability. Reaching ten green bonds issued is the result of hard work and long-term development from our team: we are most pleased to be able to call ourselves pioneers of sustainable finance in Finland”, MuniFin’s Executive President, Capital Markets and Sustainability Joakim Holmström states.
In 2023, of our long-term financing 14.6% was green and 6.8% social finance. In our sustainability agenda, published the same year, we set our sights on raising the share of sustainable finance to one third by 2030.
The sustainability agenda also sets the target to reduce the emissions from financed buildings. Out of all Finland’s greenhouse gas emissions, more than 40% come from buildings and the construction industry: this means repair construction and energy-efficient construction have significant potential to help Finland in its national emission reduction targets.
“Green and social bonds are an integral part of our funding strategy, and we aim to issue at least one green or one social bond each year. These bonds have been in high demand among our investors: our latest green bond garnered the largest order book in MuniFin’s history with USD 5.5 billion”, Holmström describes.
Our issuances have received recognition also beyond Finland. In December 2023, the UK-based CMD Portal awarded MuniFin as the Best SSA ESG Bond Issuer, and as the runner-up in the Best ESG Issuer category. MuniFin has also won Environmental Finance’s Green bond of the year award on three occasions, the latest one coming in 2022.