Green bonds are a key part of a larger Chinese initiative around “green finance.” As noted by Mr. Guo Peiyuan, co-founder of China SIF and Director of SynTao Green Finance, “The Chinese government is committed to mobilizing financial resources to achieve its goals for sustainable development under the New Normal. Green bonds are an important part of these reforms. The recently announced 13th-Five-Year Plan calls for developing green finance, including a green development fund. The time is right in China for green finance.”
I for one hope he’s right. China needs a strong economy but it also needs a greener one. According to a report by Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, China’s carbon emissions are equal to those of the US and EU combined. What happens in China matters to the rest of the world as much as it matters to China. While green bonds alone can’t solve this problem, they certainly have an important role to play. Chinese leadership in developing this new financial instrument can help to create a green bond market that can address environmental problems all over the world. Including Beijing’s gray air.