The first half of 2017 has been particularly positive in the
development of green bonds in Australia. Green bonds are debt
instruments where the proceeds are ring-fenced and used exclusively
to finance or re-finance projects promoting environmentally
sustainable activities.
Australian issuers, like those in many other countries, have
acted relatively quickly in bringing green bonds to their investor
base. All four of the largest Australian domestic banks have now
issued green bonds, something which the Climate Bonds Initiative
reports is unmatched in any other advanced economy in the world.
Financial year 2016–17 saw Monash University became the first
tertiary institution in the world to issue certified green bonds,
with issuance also by the Victorian and Queensland Governments
through their respective treasury corporations (the recent QTC
seven-year green bonds, sized at AU$750 million, was the largest
single green bond issuance and the longest tenor green bond from
