Jolyon Swinburn is a Senior Policy Analyst at The Treasury / Te Tai Ohanga in Aotearoa New Zealand (LinkedIn). The specific innovation which prompted the conversation was Jolyon working on Aotearoa New Zealand’s first green bond.
Our conversation covers:
-Aotearoa New Zealand’s approach to prosperity which cannot be captured by GDP through the Living Standards Framework and the Wellbeing Report.
-The fundamentals of what are a bond and a green bond.
-The steps they went through to investigate and then create the green bond.
-Using a third party sustainability ratings agency for credibility.
-Making sure that the green bond was funding transitional projects that would not happen otherwise (‘additionality’).
-The way in which raising a green bond is a signal from the government to international investors and national businesses on the desired direction of the economy.
-How governments pushing green bonds is forcing investment analysts to upskill on green issues.
This is part of a series of interviews about innovation for sustainability conducted for the UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources, as a contribution to a module in this Masters. You can find out more about these interviews, and the module, here.
Listen to the episode:
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