Are "Green Bonds" also Coming to Austria?

PeoplePoliticians ♦ Published: September 1, 2021; 16:20 ♦ (Vindobona)

At the European Forum Alpbach, Austrian Finance Minister Gernot Blümel announced that Austria wants to issue a so-called "green bond" in the first half of 2022. The Ministry of Finance and Federal Financing Agency (OeBFA) have already completed the necessary technical work to issue the bonds. Read more about "green bonds" and Austria's plans to begin issuing them.

Green bonds are specifically used for raising capital to improve sustainability and support climate-related or other environmental projects. / Picture: © Myrabella / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

At the European Forum Alpbach, Austrian Finance Minister Gernot Blümel announced that Austria wants to issue a so-called green bond in the first half of 2022.

Green bonds are bonds that are specifically used for raising capital to improve sustainability and support climate-related or other environmental projects. Further, such bonds are aimed at preventing or reducing environmental and climate damage. They are often accompanied by tax incentives.

Finance Minister Blümel said, “In the government program, we decided to take this step together.”

“Austria has great expertise in sustainable financing projects, our portfolio already contains a very high proportion of green investments, and our government bonds are still very much in demand with investors,” said Blümel. “At the same time, we are examining every possibility to further optimize our financing structure and thereby generate added value for taxpayers.”

According to Blümel, the necessary technical preparatory work between the Ministry of Finance and the Federal Financing Agency (OeBFA) has been completed. The finance minister has now commissioned OeBFA to set up an inter-ministerial working group to define concrete green projects. Details such as the volume, the duration, and the design should also be worked out.

“The expansion of public transport and renewable energy, research and development, or the strengthening of sustainable agriculture are possible investments that we will map in a red-white-red green bond,” explained Blümel. There will be targeted investments in an ecological transformation.

Austrian Ministry of Finance