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Sustainable Finance: A Quest for Value from ICO

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Contemporary Issues in Sustainable Finance

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Impact Finance ((SIF))

Abstract

In the last 50 years of history, Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO) has raised resources in the markets to finance its activity. Since 1996, this fundraising has taken place in international markets and it was in 2015 that it reached a new milestone when ICO entered the sustainable bond market, launching the first social bond issue in Spain for €1,000 million. Subsequently, in 2019, ICO entered the green bond market launching the first €500 million green bond. The funds raised with this transaction have contributed to mobilizing more than €4,000 million in financing for projects that have generated an estimated saving of 315 tons in CO2 emissions. Since then, ICO has become a fundamental player in this market at European level, with nine issues of sustainable bonds (7 social and 2 green) reaching €4,550 million. This prominent role of the ICO in the sustainable bond market has allowed it to join the Nasdaq Sustainable Bond Network (NSBN), a platform that centralizes relevant information on sustainable bond issuers and operations around the world with the aim of promoting transparency in this market. These issues are used to finance operations that generate a positive social or environmental impact. In the case of social bonds, ICO allocated the funds from the first issuances to finance projects of micro-enterprises and self-employed individuals located in different Spanish regions, with an income below the Spanish average, with the aim of promoting inclusive economic growth and improvement in the distribution of income. The last issuance of social bonds launched by ICO in May 2020 aimed to finance operations of the self-employed, SMEs and companies that contribute to mitigating the social and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the case of green bonds, the funds raised are dedicated to finance projects in the fields of renewable energy, energy efficiency, clean transportation, pollution prevention and control and sustainable management of natural resources.

The author’s text corresponds to her personal opinions and assessments. In no case can it be interpreted as ICO’s or FEBF’s opinions.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Griffith-Jones and Ocampo (2018), Mazzucatto (2018), UNCTAD (2019), Xu et al. (2019), McDonald et al. (2020, 2021), and Marois (2021).

  2. 2.

    IMF and World Bank (2015), Badré (2019), and UN IATF (2019), cf. Dafermos et al. (2021).

  3. 3.

    Mazzucato and McPherson (2018).

  4. 4.

    Beitel (2016), Marshall and Rochon (2019), and Brown (2019).

  5. 5.

    UNEP (2015).

  6. 6.

    EPSC (2017) and Financial Times (2016).

  7. 7.

    Levy (2017).

  8. 8.

    OECD (2016).

  9. 9.

    UN Assis Ababa Financing for Development Report (2015).

  10. 10.

    Orbis (2017) and World Bank (2012).

  11. 11.

    Schmit et al. (2011).

  12. 12.

    Marois (2013).

  13. 13.

    https://www.ico.es/documents/15125/1926935/ICO+Strategic+Realignment+2019-2021/5c6f5e34-5b66-48c8-9202-aad4aff71d94.

  14. 14.

    UE: Sustainable Finance Action Plan. July 2020.

  15. 15.

    Signed by ICO on 9 December 2019 within the framework of COP25 in Madrid, along with the Asociación Española de Banca (AEB), CECA and a score of Spanish financial institutions. https://s1.aebanca.es/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/spanish-collective-commitment-to-climate-action.pdf.

  16. 16.

    In this line, ICO has already created a web space together with the Spanish Global Compact Network to involve Spanish SMEs in the achievement of the Agenda 2030 https://icopymeods.ico.es/.

  17. 17.

    GSG (2021).

  18. 18.

    ICO and UNED (2020): Study on Circular Economy and SMEs.

  19. 19.

    AEB (2019).

  20. 20.

    CSR Action Group in the Public Companies, 2018.

  21. 21.

    Sustainable Bond Forum. June 2019.

  22. 22.

    EU Green Standard (2019).

  23. 23.

    ICMA’s Green Bond Principles (2018).

  24. 24.

    Levy (2017).

  25. 25.

    Levick (2007).

  26. 26.

    Marois (2015), Mazzucato and Penna (2015), and Pavel (2015).

  27. 27.

    Mazzucato (2015).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fundación de Estudios Bursátiles y Financieros, Valencia, Spain

    Isabel Giménez Zuriaga

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  1. Isabel Giménez Zuriaga
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Correspondence to Isabel Giménez Zuriaga .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy

    Mario La Torre

  2. Department of Management, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy

    Sabrina Leo

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Zuriaga, I.G. (2024). Sustainable Finance: A Quest for Value from ICO. In: La Torre, M., Leo, S. (eds) Contemporary Issues in Sustainable Finance. Palgrave Studies in Impact Finance. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-45222-2_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-45222-2_4

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