For	  Immediate	  Release	  	  	  	  Renewable	  Energy	  Covered	
  Bonds	  Roundtable	  on	  attracting	
  more	  capital	  Plus,	  Steering	  Committee	  announced	  	  	  London,	
   14th	   December	
   2012	   –	   Today,	
   the	   Climate	   Bonds	   Initiative	   holds	   a	  roundtable	  to	  discuss	  the	  viability	  of	  renewable	  energy	  covered	
  bonds	  as	  a	  means	  to	  broaden	  the	  debt	  capital	  market	  for	  low-­‐carbon	  finance.	  	  	  	  Sean	   Kidney,	   Chair	   of	   Climate	   Bonds	   Initiative,	   Frank	   Damerow	   of	   LBBW	   Bank	
   and	  Stuart	   Clenaghan,	   Principal	   of	   Eco	   System	   Services	
   Ltd,	   are	   the	   authors	   of	   the	   paper,	  ‘Renewable	  Energy	  Covered	
  Bonds	  –	  How	  Covered	
  Bonds	  market	  can	  be	  adapted	  for	  Renewable	  Energy	  Finance	  and	  how	
  they	  can	  help	  catalyse	  innovation	  in	  low-­‐carbon	  capital	  markets’,	
  which	  provides	  the	  starting	
  point	  of	  the	  roundtable.	  	  	  “Currently,	
   the	   renewable	   energy	   sector	   is	   lacking	   large	   scale	   investments	
   and	  government	  subsidies	  are	  drying	  up.	  Covered	
  bonds	  should	  be	  explored	  as	  a	  means	  to	  support	
  bank	  lending	  within	  the	  low-­‐carbon	  economy”	
  says	  Sean	  Kidney,	  Climate	  Bonds	  Initiative’s	
  CEO.	  	  	  	  Frank	   Damerow	   of	   LBBW	   notes	   that:	   “Covered	   bonds	
   have	   proven	   to	   be	   a	   reliable	  source	  of	  term-­‐dated	
  funds	  for	
  banks	  to	  on-­‐lend	  in	  specific	  sectors	  targeted	  by	  policy	  makers.	   Banks	   would	   benefit	
   from	   issuing	   ‘Renewable	   Energy	   Covered	   Bonds’	   as	   it	  would	
  give	  them	  access	  to	  a	  wider	
  pool	  of	  term-­‐dated	
  funds	
  with	  which	  they	  could	  increase	
  their	  lending	  activities”.	  	  	  Stuart	   Clenaghan,	   Principal	   of	   Eco	   System	   Services	
   Ltd,	
   adds	   that:	   “Renewable	  energy	  projects	
  don’t	
  have	  the	  long-­‐term	  financial	
  track	  records	
  that	  bond	  investors	  need.	   However,	   covered	   bonds	
   have	   a	   unique	   feature:	
   the	   cover	
   pool	   of	   assets	   is	  visible	   and	   open	   to	   analysis.	
   Once	   specific	   reporting	   standards	
   are	   established,	  investors	   could	   improve	   their	   understanding	   of	   how	   renewable	   energy	   assets	  perform,	  without	  having	  to	  take	  a	  direct	  credit	  exposure”.	  	  	  	  	  A	   Steering	   Committee	   is	   also	   being	   announced	   today.	   Joining	   Mr	   Kidney,	   Mr	  Damerow	  and	  Mr	  Clenaghan	
  will	  be:	  	  	  Christoph	  Anhamm,	
  Head	  of	  Covered	
  Bond	  Origination,	  RBS	  Angela	  Clist,	  Partner,	
  Allen	  &	  Overy	  	  Julia	   Hoggett,	  Managing	   Director,	
   Head	   of	   Short	
   Term	   Fixed	   Income	   Origination,	  EMEA,	
   Head	   of	   Covered	   Bonds	
   and	   FIG	
   Flow	   Financing,	   EMEA,	
   Bank	   of	   America	  Merrill	
  Lynch	  Sean	  Flannery,	  former	  CIO	
  SSgA	  Americas,	  now	  Meister	  Consultants	  and	
  IFOK	  	  	  	  	  -­‐Ends-­‐	  	  	  About	  Climate	
  Bonds	  Initiative:	
  The	   Climate	   Bonds	   Initiative	   is	   an	   investor-­‐focused	
   not-­‐for-­‐profit,	   promoting	   large-­‐scale	   investment	   in	   the	   low-­‐carbon	   economy.	
   The	   Climate	   Bonds	   Initiative	   is	  developing:	  ·∙	  	  	  	  	  	  	  Proposals	  for	  governance	  architecture	  —	  regulatory	  mechanisms,	  standards,	  tax	  policies,	
  green	
  banks	  —	  that	  will	  support	  a	  rapid	  scaling	  up	  of	  investment.	  
·∙	  	  	  	  	  	  	   Models	
   for	   engineering	   investments	   in	   projects	
   and	   assets	   necessary	   for	  attracting	
  bond	  financing	  such	  as	  renewable	  energy,	  energy	  efficiency	  and	  forestry.	  	
  Link	  to	  the	  Renewable	  Energy	  Covered	
  Bonds	
  paper	  here	  or	  http://bit.ly/QZ71jd	  	  	  	  For	  more	  information	  or	  interviews:	
  Sean	  Kidney,	  Chair,	  Climate	
  Bonds	  Initiative,	  sean@climatebonds.net	  +(44)752506-­‐8331.