The IFC has issued a green bond in the “kangaroo market”, raising 700m Australian dollars, to bridge the biodiversity finance gap and advance economic growth in emerging markets.

A kangaroo bond involves Australian stocks that make up the country’s All-Ordinaries Index. consisting of stocks of the most actively traded Australian companies.

"I'm delighted to see strong interest from high-quality investors in our Green Kangaroo Bond to support biodiversity finance, which has emerged as a fast-growing area in green finance,” said Tom Ceusters, IFC director of capital markets and investments. “Funds raised through this issuance will finance projects that conserve, restore and protect biodiversity in emerging markets."

The proceeds of the bond will support biodiversity initiatives, such as the BTG Pactual Timberland Investment Group’s Latin American reforestation strategy which focuses on restoration and conservation in key regions, and BBVA Colombia’s biodiversity bond, the world’s first biodiversity bond aimed at regenerating natural forests in Colombia.

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