after representing SEB for 10 years in the GBP Excom - I will leave the SEB Excom seat in good hands to Fredrik von Platen A few reflections: Back in 2007, when my journey started in Green Bonds - it was an ambition to replace zero risk (government bonds). The appetite was low - however - combining this need with the institutional desire to address Global warming worked - and an institutional reverse interest was brought to The World Bank - who embraced the idea and in a close collaboration between the Investors ((AP2, AP3, Skandia and LF Liv), The World Bank and SEB - The First World Bank Green Bond was developed over the following year. The principles was 1) simplicity (suitable for a mainstream mandate), 2) a clear purpose and earmarking (monitoring) of the principal 3) verification (2nd opinion - how CICERO was activated) 4) annual reporting (transparency) After this, The World Bank provided a strong support to enable SEB to travel the World, establish collaborations with issuers, investors and banks - to broaden the concept. Players, like Trillium (strong impact investor in Boston - thank you for engaging Cheryl ), the UN jspf (1st non Scandi investor - thanks Suzanne), Treasurer of the State of California (tough negotiation George, Dan with team 😊), SSgA (Green Bond strategy - great work Mahesh, Brian and Chris!!!)) Nikko aM (1st Green Bond fund - great team and spirit Stuart!), AIM (the team from Nikko am start-up) Zurich Financial (1st large scale/usd 1bn managed Green Bond mandate - thank you Cecilia, thank you Manuel), BlackRock (thank you Ashley and Chad)- where all (with many more), joining the move and contributing with thoughts and momentum. During this period, a white paper on the principles of Green Bonds, was launched in global capital by Citi (Michael Eckhart) and BoA (Suzanne Buchta) next to an SEB add on 5 principles of Green Bonds. A while later - I recieved a call from Eckhart - a group had been formed and they wanted SEB to join forces to unify and strengthen the thoughts - a good and smart proposal - so we obviously joined - and became one, of the institutions to launch the first Green Bond principles. Ever since then, player by player and person by person - have strongly contributed to strengthen and expanding the platform. To have one space to coordinate and form thoughts, secure that we, as finance, bring a coordinated and framed contribution to address the rebound effects of what we finance, can not be undervalued - at the end - we all live on one planet with limited resources - and the way we allocate resources (through capital) will determine the quality of our lives - and the quality of live for generations to come! Lastly - but most important (for me) Thank you Doris, Heike, Andrea, George - and the rest of The World Bank team - my colleagues at SEB and the initial investors for enabling me to write this and for our journey so far ! 😊 Working on the next chapter ! 😀 All the best Christopher
Well done for being a true pioneer in this space and helping to create what has become an important product in the markets. Best of luck and much success in your next chapter!
Your appetite for this industry created an education and opportunity for many to contribute nourishing it! Thank you!
You’ll be missed!
Rock solid Chris! ☀️🤙🏻
Well done and thanks for all your efforts Chris!
Thank you, dear Christopher! It was a remarkable experience and time to collaborate with such a financial entrepreneur and thought leader (and your team, obviously) to support the development of green bond markets in Brazil, China, India and Mexico. It needs more people like you who understand how to activate mandates and markets to address global challenges. All the best for the next chapter!
History was also made, thanks to you, with the revolutionary Social Impact Bond for social housing issued by the Nederlandse Waterschapsbank (NWB Bank). It was great working together on that. Curious about your next steps. Best wishes.
Good luck with your next chapter. You certainly have made green bonds a success story. Congratulations to such a great achievement. Enjoyed working with you on the first World bank green bonds way back, was it 2007/8?
Chief Strategy Officer & Co-founder at GreenBond Advisors
1moHappy we survived Stinson Beach, CA...so you could go on an write some more Green Bond history. Keep up the good work.