Mirae Asset Management launches Asia-focused green bond ETF

Asset management firm Mirae Asset Global Investments has launched a green bond exchange-traded fund (ETF) focused on Asia (excluding Japan). The fund will provide investors with access to investment-grade green debt in Asian markets and is trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. In determining the bonds in which the fund could invest, the company will focus on proceed use in projects related to renewables, energy efficiency, green buildings and climate adaption among other factors. According to the Climate Bonds Initiative, Asia is the world’s second largest issuer and fastest in terms of issuance growth. Issuers from the region include governments, state-owned companies and corporations. Jung Ho Rhee, Mirae Asset’s CEO, stressed the need to catalyse capital into the region’s transition. “With Asia Pacific accounting for around half of the world’s carbon emissions, and temperatures in the region rising twice as much as the global average, urgent action is required to tackle climate change,” he said.