The European Union sold its first ever green bond to record demand on Tuesday, taking its first step to potentially become the biggest issuer of environmentally-friendly debt with a record-sized deal.

The 15-year green bond raised 12 billion euros ($13.9 billion) and received more than 135 billion euros of demand, the European Commission said, making it the largest green bond launch and the highest level of demand for a green bond sale to date.

The bond, which will finance member states’ environmentally beneficial projects as part of the bloc’s COVID-19 recovery fund, is the first step for the EU – which aims to be carbon-neutral by 2050 – towards becoming a leading force in the fast-growing green debt market.

Thirty percent of the EU’s up-to 800 billion euro COVID-19 recovery scheme, which gives grants and loans to member states until end-2026, will fund environmentally beneficial projects…read more.