Amundi scales emerging green bond markets through Europe’s GGBI initiative

April marked a major landmark in European multi-lateral cooperation with the launch of the Global Green Bond Initiative (GGBI)2. With a goal of mobilizing public and private capital to finance climate transition in emerging markets, the fund will become one of the world’s largest global blended finance enterprises. We sat down with Eric Dussoubs, Managing Director of Public Sector, at Amundi, to discover why this is such an important milestone for climate finance, and the role Amundi will play in making it a success.

How did the Global Green Bond Initiative cometogether, and what is Amundi's role within it?
The Global Green Bond Initiative (GGBI) is an EU-led Global Gateway initiative designed to channel private capital into green bond markets in low- and middle-income countries, where climate finance needs are greatest. The fund is backed by a consortium of nine development finance and public institutions, while Amundi acts as the sole manager, responsible for structuring the strategy, deploying capital, and contributing its green bond expertise to the Technical Assistance programme. In short, the institutions provide the capital and policy mandate, and Amundi provides the investment management.

GGBI is structurally different from a traditional blended finance fund. Can you explain why?
GGBI differs from a traditional blended finance fund because it is not built on a classic tranched structure. Instead, it uses a leveraged model with two layers: equity from the DFI consortium, backed by an 80% EU guarantee, and notes sold to private investors. These notes are not subordinated, but structured to behave like a standard bond, allowing institutional investors to include them in fixed income allocations with no special treatment.

How does a fund investing in frontier market green bonds deliver investment-grade notes to private investors?
The fund is able to offer investment-grade notes because of its strong capital structure. A nearly €1 billion equity layer, provided by highly rated development banks and partially guaranteed by the European Commission, acts as a first-loss buffer before noteholders are affected. Combined with broad diversification, strict concentration limits and a minimum portfolio credit rating, this structure helps deliver an investment-grade risk profile to private investors despite the underlying exposure to emerging and frontier market issuers.

For pension funds already active in EM fixed income or green bonds, how does GGBI fit alongside existing allocations?
GGBI is designed to complement existing EM fixed income or green bond allocations by opening access to segments that are typically hard to reach through conventional instruments. It offers a diversified route into frontier markets, first-time issuers and local currency green bonds in underserved regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa and the Pacific. For investors already active in green bonds, it also provides pure-play green exposure with ICMA-compliant issuances and annual impact reporting, ensuring additionality.

For funds newer to this space but with strong responsible investment mandates, what is the entry argument for GGBI?
GGBI offers an accessible entry point for investors seeking meaningful climate impact without the complexity of direct frontier market exposure. The notes are designed to be bond-like, euro-denominated and to pay an annual coupon, making them suitable for fixed income allocations. At the same time, the fund has strong impact objectives, including investment in low- and middle-income countries, a minimum allocation to least developed countries, support for local currency issuances, and annual impact reporting.

When GGBI succeeds at scale, what does it change for the countries receiving the capital and for global green finance?
At scale, GGBI aims to help build local green bond markets by supporting first-time sovereign issuers, validating their credit, and encouraging repeat issuance and local investor participation. Through its Technical Assistance Facility, it also supports framework design, impact reporting and investor engagement. More broadly, the initiative could help shift perceptions of emerging markets by showing that they can be investable for institutional capital.