Amid a global decline in ESG issuance in 2022, the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region was the only one to emerge without a significant decline. According to data from Refinitiv, the issuance of ESG themed bonds in APAC grossed US$142 billion, marking only a negligible fall from the record-setting US$144 billion in 2021. Chinese entities issued nearly 60% of the APAC ESG bonds in 2022, with total proceeds increasing 6% from 2021 to reach US$84 billion, with a slight rise in the volume of issuers to 281. Thilan Wickramasinghe, Head of Equity Research at APAC stocks and derivatives brokerage firm Maybank Securities, said: “To de-carbonise [supply] chains, coal would need to be replaced by alternative energy, and the capital requirements to fund these trends could drive higher sustainability investment flows to Asia.”
