Committed to green bonds development
KBN's Sigbjørn Birkeland has been elected executive committee member of Green Bond Principles (GBP), the leading international green bonds standard.
During the 2017 Green Bond Principles General Meeting, KBN was elected one of 24 Green Bond Executive Committee members. The committee consists of leading financial institutions such as the World Bank, Bank of China and investment management corporation Blackrock. GBP is considered the leading standard for green bonds and used as guidelines for issuers of this type of bonds.
- We look forward to making our contribution to the continued development of Green Bond Principles. The membership is a recognition of KBN’s early participation in the green bonds market and our commitment to maintaining the expertise necessary to further growth in the green bonds market, says Kristine Falkgård, CEO of Kommunalbanken.
GBP is in constant development. The latest version was published 14 June this year (2017). More than 130 of the largest and most important issuers, investors and underwriters already follow the standard.
Sigbjørn Birkeland will start in his position as Chief Financial Markets Officer at KBN in August, and will represent KBN in the GBP executive committee. He looks forward to making a contribution:
- Green bonds can become a very important tool for managing the transition to a low-carbon society. I hope our commitment will continue to benefit the local government sector financing important municipal green projects, says Sigbjørn Birkeland.
GBP is developed by the International Capital Market Association (ICMA). ICMA is an international membership organisation with more than 500 members from over 60 different countries. The organisation covers issuers, investors, banks and other players in the market.
- The Green Bond Principles is an incorporated market standard to which all market participants refer. We want to focus on future developments - making green bonds an even more important tool connecting environmentally concerned investors with stakeholders looking for faincing of their green investments, "says Birkeland.