Luxembourg Stock Exchange launches Luxembourg Green Exchange

By Angela McDaniels

Tacoma, Wash., Sept. 27 – The Luxembourg Stock Exchange launched the Luxembourg Green Exchange on Tuesday, according to a company news release.

Access is limited to issuers who comply with eligibility criteria. The issuer must state the intended green nature of the security. Proceeds must be used exclusively for financing or refinancing projects that are 100% green according to Green Bond Principles or Climate Bonds Initiative eligibility taxonomy, and the issuer must commit to provide both independent external review and ex-post reporting.

Access to the green exchange is banned for securities on the excluded categories list that includes, among others, nuclear power production, animal testing for cosmetics and other non-medical products, medical testing on endangered species and fossil fuels.

The company said the majority of the 114 green bonds listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange are listed on the new green exchange and are together worth more than $45 billion.

The company said it is the first stock exchange globally to introduce a platform for green financial instruments.

“With over $42 billion in new issuances globally, 2015 was another record year for labeled green bonds. As estimated by the Climate Bonds Initiative, in 2016, the green bonds issuance will reach $100 billion,” Luxembourg Stock Exchange chief executive officer Robert Scharfe said in the news release.

“The already thriving green bonds sector received an additional boost after the COP21 conference in Paris last year during which 195 countries agreed on keeping the rise of global temperature below 2 degrees Celsius. The International Energy Agency estimates that the world needs $1 trillion a year until 2050 to finance a low-emissions transition.”

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