Mexico can issue USD 2bn of green bonds in 3 yrs - CBI

Mexico has the potential to issue USD 2 billion (EUR 1.8bn) of green bonds in three years, Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI) chief executive Sean Kidney said in a interview with El Economista.

Kidney was in Mexico to support the development of the domestic green bond market and spoke at the launch of a climate bonds working group, formed by Mexican bourse Bolsa Mexicana de Valores (BMV) and Mexican carbon platform Mexico2.

In 2015, Mexican-based development bank Nacional Financiera SNC (Nafin) issued a USD-500-million bond to finance wind projects in the country -- the first "Climate Bond Certified" green bond in Mexico and South America.

"In Mexico, I would have the goal of over 2,000 million dollars in bonds. We have 500 million [already], but we need to encourage participation from Mexico City and BBVA Bancomer," Kidney told El Economista.

He said that this year efforts would be focused on establishing the market and educating the financial community and that 2017 would be a much larger year. Eduardo Piquero, director of Mexico2, was cited as saying that there were three green bonds that could be issued this year.

A pipeline of projects for funding has been identified, among which Metrobus lines in different cities and wastewater treatment plants.

In March Mexico held a renewable power tender, in which wind and solar projects won contracts to supply 5.4 TWh annually. Another auction is planned for September 2016.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.889)

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