The Islamic Development Bank indicated that it may issue green sukuk bonds compliant with religious law and increase lending for climate-related projects with an announcement at the United Nations global warming conference in Paris at the end of the year.
“Estimates for the 2030 agenda indicate that we need to move from billions to trillions of dollars of support annually for sustainable development,” Savas Alpay, chief economist of the IDB, said in a phone interview. “Traditional sources of development finance will not be enough. We must also look at non-traditional sources. We will be using Islamic finance to bring new resources to the table.”
Khazanah Nasional Bhd, Malaysia’s state-owned sovereign wealth fund, issued green sukuk last November after introducing guidelines for socially responsible debt in August 2014. It was the second entity after the London-based International Financial Facility for Immunization announce plans to sell ethical-based sukuk.
Green Sukuk
The International Financial Facility for Immunization seeks to sell as much as $500 million of dollar-denominated Shariah-compliant notes, using the bond proceeds to supply vaccines to some of the world’s poorest nations. IFFIM, a non-profit organization based in London, will sell the three-year vaccine bonds backed by commodities as early as this month. The sukuk will be of the Murabaha type and are rated AA by Standard & Poor’s. Ethical or green sukuk aren’t governed by any industry standards and don’t need a separate endorsement from an Islamic scholar. Issuance of green sukuk is expected to rise as there is growing awareness of environmental preservation.