Financing is critical to propel sustainable investments and projects. In this regard, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (“MAS“) has developed the Green Finance Action Plan to promote financing for sustainable development. The Singapore Government announced that the public sector intends to issue up to S$35 billion of green bonds by 2030. Proceeds from the public sector green bonds will be used to finance expenditures in support of the Singapore Green Plan 2030, such as green infrastructure projects. The issuance of public sector green bonds is intended to jumpstart corporate green bond issuances, deepen market liquidity for green bonds, and attract green issuers, capital and investors.
In the coming months, MAS (on behalf of the Singapore Government) will be issuing the first sovereign green bond under the Significant Infrastructure Government Loan Act 2021 (“SINGA“). Ahead of this, the Singapore Ministry of Finance published the Singapore Green Bond Framework (“Framework“) on 9 June 2022 that sets out a regulatory and governance framework for green bond issuances by the Singapore Government under SINGA.
This Update outlines in brief the salient features of this Framework, which sets out, among other things, how proceeds from green bonds issued may be used, how projects are evaluated and selected, how proceeds are managed, and requirements on post-issuance reporting on allocation of proceeds and impact on the environment.
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