Rise of controversial transition bonds leads to call for industry standards

摘要

When marfric floated the idea of doing its first-ever green bond earlier this year, the company's bankers knew the deal would be a difficult sell. As one of the biggest beef producers in the world - it slaughters more than 33,000 cows a day, including many that have been reared in parts of the Amazon cleared of rainforest - the Brazilian issuer was unlikely to meet even the minimum standards of many green investors. A short non-deal roadshow in London confirmed those suspicions. Despite commitments from Marfrig to use funds only to buy cattle from suppliers that had signed up to not destroying more rainforest, investors baulked at the trade. "The first time we looked at this, the proposal was to do a green bond, which we had to refuse," said one banker involved. "We thought it was not possible."