Financial solutions that are both innovative and at scale are crucial if we are to swiftly transition economies and societies away from fossil fuel dependency and harmful environmental practices. A growing number of banks have committed to developing these solutions, but one bank, HSBC, stands out for its constant drive to bring higher standards and capital to transition a broad range of sectors globally.
While the environment has dominated sustainable finance over the last decade, 2020 has undoubtedly been about Covid-19. Social finance has come to the fore as financial institutions have sought to raise capital to support small businesses, as well as healthcare service and equipment providers. HSBC was joint lead manager on the first Covid-19 specific issuance from Bank of China, Macau in February and on the Nordic Investment Bank’s €1 billion response bond in March. Since then has been on a further nine Covid-related deals, collectively raising close to $20 billion.
But even as the pandemic has dominated headlines, decarbonization efforts have continued at pace, and HSBC, under its global head of sustainable finance, Daniel Klier, has been pushing to develop new products and initiatives to support global environmental ambitions.