Environmental Impact of Green Bonds Initiative of YES Bank- A Review

Green bonds can play a vital role in raising the capital needed to make green investments. In India, the green bond market has witnessed remarkable growth recently as the country looks to reduce its carbon footprint and transition to more sustainable economic development. Simultaneously, a growing number of scholars have evinced interest in the area to explore distinctive ways to contribute to developing this nascent market. This paper intends to review the green bonds program undertaken by YES Bank, a leading private bank in India, with a focus on the examination of its environmental impact. The data has been collected from various secondary sources like websites, journals, various articles, and published reports of YES Bank. Simple statistical tools like averages and ratios are used to analyze the environmental impact of green financing initiatives of YES Bank Ltd. It is found that the bank’s green bonds initiative has been able to produce positive environmental impact by reducing carbon footprint. For every one crore rupees of green bond funding, CO₂ reduction is estimated to be 1.62 mt and 1.50 mt for solar and wind power projects, respectively. But the core impact indicators, such as annual energy savings, annual greenhouse gas emissions reduced or avoided, and annual renewable energy produced, are not reflected in the bank’s green investment campaign.