Johannesburg – The Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) yesterday launched its first green bond, worth 200million euros (R3.59 billion), in its bid to increase its role in climate finance.
The bond was issued through a private placement with the French development finance institution, the Agence Francaise de Developpment.
DBSA said the bond would be structured in alignment with its recently released Green Bond Framework.
The framework reiterated the DBSA’s commitment to playing a role in the just transition to a low-carbon economy.
The bank was also instrumental in the development of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers’ Programme, and is accredited to the Global Environment Facility and the Green Climate Fund (GCF).
In partnership with the GCF, the DBSA has implemented large-scale programmes which support the transition to a low-cardon economy, which include a lending facility set up to encourage private sector investment in climate-related projects in southern Africa.
It added that this green bond would help finance domestic projects that contribute to the green economy, which is part of South Africa’s National Development Plan (NDP).
“The DBSA green bond issuance will be applied to projects that contribute to climate mitigation and/or adaptation; that are aligned to the NDP objective of an ‘environmentally sustainable and equitable transition to a low-carbon economy’; and that are aligned to the sustainable development goals,” said the bank.
