Norwegian CICERO certify Indian Green Bonds
Minister for Finance Nirmala Sitharaman has approved the final Sovereign Green Bonds framework of India, certified by CICERO, an independent and globally renowned Norway-based Second Party Opinion (SPO) provider.
CICERO was appointed to evaluate India’s green bonds framework and certify alignment of the framework with International Capital Market Association’s Green Bond Principles and international best practices.
After due deliberation and consideration, CICERO has rated India’s Green Bonds Framework as ‘Medium Green’ with a “Good” governance score.
The Ministerial approval of the Green Bond will further strengthen India’s commitment towards its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDCs) targets, adopted under the Paris Agreement, and help in attracting global and domestic investments in eligible green projects.
The proceeds generated from issuance of such bonds will be deployed in Public Sector projects which help in reducing carbon intensity of the economy, the Finance Ministry said on 9 Nov 2022.
Green bonds are financial instruments that generate proceeds for investment in environmentally sustainable and climate-suitable projects. By virtue of their indication towards environmental sustainability, green bonds command a relatively lower cost of capital vis-à-vis regular bonds and necessitates credibility and commitments associated with the process of raising bonds.
In the above context, India’s first Sovereign Green Bonds framework was formulated and as per the provisions of the framework, Green Finance Working Committee (GFWC) was constituted to validate key decisions on issuance of Sovereign Green Bonds.
The Finance Minister had announced in the Union Budget FY 2022-23 the issuing of Sovereign Green Bonds for mobilising resources for green projects. fiinews.com
