With green bonds in Asia booming and being one of the few bright spots in the wider Asia USD  bond market, we use the Overview to answer if they really benefit the environment or are just a tool for easier financing? Asia green bonds represented 6% of the Asia USD bond universe as  of end-April 2022, and continue to grow fast. We dig into over 140 Asia corporate green bonds  and 97 individual corporate issuers to address the top five questions from investors:  1) How are green projects defined? The process offers some flexibility as the detailed breakdown has to be disclosed only in the post-issuance document a year later.

2) Is the use of green bonds for refinancing justified? Our analysis shows that 62% of  existing green bonds were issued for refinancing. That leaves just 38% that were used for new  capital investment in green projects.