Nasdaq Iceland has welcomed the City of Reykjavik as its first green bond issuer on the Exchange’s sustainable bond market. The bond was issued on 17 December and is sized at ISK 4.1 billion with a maturity of 30 years. Reykjavik intends to issue further bonds in the bond class in the coming years and add market making services.
The purpose of the issuance is to finance the City of Reykjavik’s green investment projects in accordance with the Green Bond Framework. Green bonds can only be used to finance projects within the Green Bond Framework that meet strict requirements. Some of these investments, that could meet the requirements of the Green Bond Framework, include pedestrian and cycle pathways, introduction of LED lights for street lighting and electric vehicle charging stations.
“This is a milestone for Reykjavik.”, says Dagur Eggertsson, Mayor of Reykjavik. “Our aim is to constantly strengthen our position as a green city which will be carbon neutral by 2040. We approved the Green Bond Framework where CICERO (Center for International Climate Research) rated the overall assessment of the project types that will be financed by the green bonds Dark Green and the overall assessment of the governance structure of Reykjavik got the rating of Excellent. I’m also very happy about the anticipation and interest we have received from investors. That is indeed a very promising start for this project and for us to become a sustainable city.”
Sustainability is fast becoming a key driver of economic success for countries and cities and the City of Reykjavik’s first green bond issuance is a step in the right direction. “This marks the first listing on Nasdaq Iceland’s sustainable bond market. Given the great interest the issuance received we look forward to building this market for green bonds. It’s an honor to welcome our capital city to lead the way on our sustainable bond market,” said Magnus Hardarson, the Head of Exchange Trading and Listing Services at Nasdaq Iceland.
