Portugal guarantees that green bond issuance continues in government plans

  • ECO News
  • 28 January 2020

The Assistant Secretary of State and Treasury Ricardo Mourinho Félix explained that the green debt is taking time due to procedural difficulties.

The government has not yet given up on the plan to issue green debt according to the Assistant Secretary of State and Treasury Ricardo Mourinho, who pointed out the differences in the procedure that are delaying the process, in the closing speech of the annual Euronext Lisbon conference.

“It is also an objective of the Government to move forward in this direction. Issuing green bonds is in the Government’s program, but there is work to be done because the structure of these issues is very different,” said Mourinho Félix, referring to the green debt segment.

Green bonds are debt securities specifically issued to finance projects related to climate or environment. Mourinho Félix recalled that this market has been growing exponentially in recent years and reached a record 254.9 billion dollars in 2019. The amount represents a 49% growth in relation to the previous year.

For over two years, Finance Minister Mário Centeno has been saying that Portugal is looking “with attention” at the green bond market. Last year, the government signed a letter of commitment on sustainability with the Lisbon stock exchange.

Portugal may be preparing to take up this idea because it needs “one billion euros” by 2050 in public and private investment to be carbon neutral. “The biggest investment will be in infrastructure, technology and efficient buildings,” explained the Assistant Secretary of State.

“Only by investing in dreams can we make them come true and sustainable finances are no longer a dream. Sustainable finances are already changing the capital markets,” said Mourinho Félix.