Korea Gives a $13 Billion Boost to the Global Green-Bond Boom

The South Korean government is considering a green bond sale abroad, in what would be the latest deal from a country that’s become one of the world’s most active issuers of the sustainable debt.

Green note issuance is booming worldwide, but even by global standards the Korean sales rush is remarkable: deals from Asia’s fourth-largest economy have surged more than five-fold to $12.9 billion this year, far outpacing the 166% increase in such sales globally, Bloomberg-compiled data show. Korean issuers are also punching above their weight in Asia, selling the most green bonds after Chinese peers.