Feel good investment: Social, sustainability bonds surge in Covid-19 world

Google parent issued a $5.75 billion sustainability bond, the largest such offering in history

At a time when project execution and fresh fundraising has slowed down, global sustainable bond issuance totalled $99.9 billion in the April-June quarter of 2020, a quarterly record and 65 per cent higher than the first quarter of this calendar year. It is expected that heightened focus on environment, social and corporate governance (ESG) factors will support the continued growth of green, social and sustainability bonds.

According to a Moody's Investor Service report, record quarterly issuance of both social bonds at $33 billion and sustainability bonds at $19.1 billion drove the strong combined total. Though cumulatively, it is still modest