AFME is pleased to circulate its European ESG Finance quarterly data report for the first quarter of 2024. The aim of this report is to provide detailed data and analysis on the rapidly growing Sustainable Finance market in Europe.
This report presents the latest data on ESG bond and Loan issuance, ESG bonds outstanding, carbon market prices and futures, and global and European funds with an ESG mandate. The report also illustrates the evolution of the green premium in Europe and gives an overview of the near-term direction of regulation in the sector.
Among the main findings of this report:
- Modest annual growth in ESG bond and loan issuance:
- ESG bond and loan issuance increased by 2% compared to Q1 2023. The increase was primarily driven by sustainability-linked loan origination (+13% YoY).
- Sustainability-linked bonds exhibited a large decrease, falling by 34% YoY to €7.8bn.
- German issuers led in Q1 2024 by total ESG bond and loan issuance, closely followed by French issuers. Notably, c. 50% of sustainability-linked loans was originated in Germany and a quarter of ESG bonds was issued in France.
- Declining pool of ESG AUMs notwithstanding net quarterly inflows:
- Lower asset prices led to a 1.9% decrease in global ESG funds, reaching a total amount of $USD 9.5tn despite quarterly net inflows for $USD 18.3 bn.
- ESG AUMs invested in alternative and real estate assets dropped 36.6% and 37.4% QoQ respectively.
- The ESG premium continued to fluctuate at c1.4bps during the quarter:
- The ESG premium remained relatively stable throughout Q1 2024, moving within a range of 1.2 and 1.6 bps.