Saudi Arabia’s wealth fund plans green debt issuance ‘soon’
Al Jazeera
Saudi’s Public Investment Fund has been investing more in businesses that benefit from a transition from fossil fuels.
Saudi Arabia’s $430 billion sovereign wealth fund plans to announce its first green debt issuance as it looks to increase the role that environmental, social and governance principles play in its investments.
The Public Investment Fund will announce the green issuance “very soon,” Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan said in a virtual event on Tuesday. The PIF, as the fund is known, is also working with BlackRock Inc. on developing an ESG framework, said Al-Rumayyan, who is also chairman of Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest oil company.
A boom in global sales looks set to take ethical debt issuance toward $1 trillion this year, with the U.K.’s green bond debut breaking records this week. A green borrowing by the PIF would be the first for a sovereign wealth fund and comes as the kingdom, one of the world’s largest oil exporters, looks to reshape its reputation on environmental issues.
