According to the ‘Asia Pacific Sustainability Index 2021’ released by Knight Frank, an international property consultant based in London, United Kingdom (UK), four Indian cities made it to the top 20 of the Asia Pacific (APAC) Sustainably Led Cities Index Ranking.
- Bengaluru, Karnataka, was ranked 14th in the APAC region in the Gold standard category. It topped among the Indian cities.
- The other 3 Indian cities, Delhi (New Delhi), Hyderabad (Telangana), and Mumbai (Maharashtra), came in 17th, 18th, and 20th, respectively, attaining the Silver standard category.
The top five green-rated cities in the APAC region are Singapore, Sydney (Australia), Wellington (New Zealand), Perth (Australia), and Melbourne (Australia). These five cities earned the Platinum category, the highest category of the index.
Key Facts:
i.The APAC Sustainably-led Cities Index includes 36 cities ranked according to urbanisation pressure, climate risk, carbon emissions, and government initiatives.
ii.The index standard refers to the willingness of the cities in accepting and adapting to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)metrics.
- Platinum signifies that the city is well advanced and extremely open to accepting and adapting to ESG metrics from all stakeholders to a high degree.
- Gold implies that the city is slightly advanced and somewhat open to accepting and adapting to ESG metrics from all stakeholders to a certain degree.
- Silver denotes that the city is advanced and open to accepting and adapting to ESG metrics from all stakeholders to a limited degree.
Reason Behind India’s performance:
- India’s growth in sustainable development has been driven by the new market dynamics.
- Indian developers have enhanced their products to suit the standards as a result of the global commitment to carbon neutrality and Net Zero, focused on building environmentally-friendly premises.
India Green Bonds’ Issuance 6th Largest in APAC Region
According to the Knight Frank report “Raising Capital in Uncertain Times-Active Capital APAC Perspective June/July 2022”, India’s green bond issuance surged by 523 % year-over-year (YoY), from USD 1.1 billion in 2020 to USD 6.8 billion in 2021.
- India now ranks the sixth-largest country in APAC in terms of the total amount of green bonds issued in 2021.
Green Bonds: These are fixed-income financial instruments meant to finance projects that have positive environmental and or climate benefits.
Raising Capital in Uncertain Times: Overview
The report serves as a guide for investors by giving an insight of how the Asia-Pacific real estate market has performed historically and how it is predicted to develop in 2022.
- The report also emphasises the theme – Environmental, Social, And Governance (ESG) for investors aiming to expand their ESG footprint in their portfolios.
Key Facts:
i.In 2020, the pandemic had a negative effect on the issuance of green bonds. However, it bounced back in 2021, surpassing pre-pandemic levels and increasing by 116.9% from the USD 3.1 billion raised in 2019.
ii.According to statistics provided by the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI), APAC issued USD 126 billion in green bonds in 2021, with China issuing the largest amount, USD 68 billion, exceedingthe combined value of the other APAC nations.
About Knight Frank:
MD (Asia Pacific) – Kevin Coppel
Chairman & MD of Knight Frank India – Shishir Baijal
Founded – 1896
Headquarters – London, United Kingdom (UK)
