GCC green and sustainable bond and sukuk issuances saw massive growth in volume and value last year, with some USD 8.5 bn raised from 15 issuances — a sizable increase from the USD 605 mn raised from six issuances in 2021, according to data from Bloomberg’s Capital Markets League Tables picked up by Zawya. The Bloomberg data isn’t publicly available.

Saudi Arabia came in hot — and the UAE wasn’t far behind: KSA was the region’s leading issuer, accounting for over 50% of total issuance volumes, with the remainder coming out of the UAE. In 2021, all GCC green and sustainable bond and sukuk issuances came from the UAE, Zawya cites Bloomberg data showing.

Who were the big players? First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) played a leading role in the region, raising some USD 1.49 bn through three green bond issuances, Zawya notes. Also name-checked were the GCC’s major debut issuances: A USD 3 bn green bond issuance by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), a USD 750 mn sustainable sukuk issuance by Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), a USD 750 mn sustainable sukuk by Saudi National Bank (SNB) and a USD 500 mn green bond by Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB).

All this growth despite a year of volatility: As we noted in our Year in Review on climate finance, MENA green bonds and sukuk had a good year — despite global bond market volatility. Globally, sales of new green and sustainable bonds and sukuk decreased 14% y-o-y in 2022, falling to USD 635 bn — in part, off the back of rising interest rates and overall volatility, according to the Bloomberg data.

And there’s more to come: As we noted yesterday, we can expect the boom to continue in 2023 as last year’s major debut issuances “suggest sustainable finance is continuing to enter the mainstream in the region,” Zawya quotes Venty Mulani, Bloomberg LP data specialist in sustainable fixed income as saying.