Chester top of the chart for sustainability, national index reveals

Europe’s sustainable finance market experienced “rapid” growth during the first half of 2019, despite a challenging end to 2018, new analyses have concluded this week.  H2 of 2018 was widely regarded as a difficult period for green finance, but the market is showing signs of resurgence   The first of these analyses comes from Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s (BNEF) Sustainable Finance Market Outlook for the second half of 2019. According to this report, Europe accounted for almost half (48%) of global sustainable debt insurance between January and July this year, with growth driven by both the corporate and government sector.  Indeed, BNEF is predicting that at least $380bn of sustainable debt finance will be provided during 2019, after a record H1.  “The sustainable debt finance market is growing in volume, scope and popularity,” BNEF’s analysis states. “Record volumes of sustainable debt came to market in 1H 2019 – and the first half of the year is typically quieter than the second.”