Despite the green bond issuance market increasing more than threefold to US$36bn last year on 2013, according to the Climate Bond Initiative (CBI), the UAE is still uncharted territory. However, the race is on to release the world’s first green sukuk, and this country is looking like a strong contender for the first issuer of a green sukuk. Instead of hitting the conventional bond buyers, a green sukuk can attract conventional bond investors to those diversifying their portfolios. All it would take is one issuer to come out in the region to show the demand.