Largest Social Bond of 2022
In 2020, in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the European Union set up the €100 billion SURE instrument to finance short-term employment schemes across the EU and keep people in jobs. To finance sure, the EU set up the world’s largest social bond scheme. Between October 2020 and December 2022, the Commission issued a total of €98.4 billion of social bonds in nine issuances. This included the record-breaking first SURE transaction, which attracted an order book of €233 billion, the largest order book for any deal in the history of global bond markets. The SURE programme has been key to set the ground for the EU’s transformation into one of the largest issuers in euro.
“The EU’s flagship SURE and NextGenerationEU programmes – with its strong eco-social design - are a clear demonstration of the EU’s strong commitment to sustainable financing. They have also been instrumental for the evolution of the EU into one of the world’s largest issuers in euro. We are glad that for yet another year our commitment to sustainability is being recognised by the Climate Bonds Initiative, and we will continue to work for a greener and more socially fair Europe, including trough sustainable funding.”
