Perspectives / Sustain / World’s largest social bonds...
The EU has issued €17bn in social bonds to help finance member states' programmes on employment support in the midst of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
As part of the €100bn programme, the EU has issued the world's largest social bonds and largest ever syndicated Euro deal – a €17bn transaction aimed at financing measures needed by Member States to preserve the income of employees at firms experiencing substantial negative impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak, and of self-employed individuals experiencing difficulty. The bonds' use of proceeds specifically contribute to the following social impact areas:
- SDG8 - Target employment generation and programs designed to prevent and/or alleviate unemployment
- SDG3 - Good health and
wellbeing through increasing access to towards universal health coverage,
including financial risk protection, and affordable essential medicines.
The inherent transparency provided by social bonds through targeted use of proceeds and measureable impact reporting, outlined in the social bond framework, is a significant differentiator of this €17bn financing by the European Union. The 10 year tranche at €145bn was 14 times oversubscribed, and the 20 year tranche at €88bn was 12 times oversubscribed; evidencing both growing investor demand for social bonds and the role sustainable capital markets can play in supporting society to combat social challenges.


BNP Paribas' leadership in the social bond market in response to Covid-19
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