Data-driven sustainable development: thematic bonds as drivers of circular economy

• Ano de defesa: 2024
• Autor(a) principal: Pineda, Angelo Renato Porras
• Orientador(a): Pereira, Susana Carla Farias, Silva, Wesley Mendes da
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: eng
• Palavras-chave em Inglês: Thematic bonds; Circular economy; Sustainable finance; Developing countries; Developed countries; Quantitative analysis; Sustainable development goals; SDGs; SDG 7; SDG 9; SDG 12; SDG 13
• Link de acesso: https://hdl.handle.net/10438/36096

More than ever, sustainable economic models are vital for global society to meet the challenges of the global environment and society. Thematic bonds—such as Green, Social, Sustainability, and Sustainability-Linked Bonds— have a critical role in sourcing capital to fund the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) achievement. Despite their growing use, particularly in developed nations, there is limited understanding of their role in promoting circular economy principles, especially in developing economies where their impact could be transformative. This thesis examines the alignment of thematic bond issuances with circular economy objectives. The thesis analyzes a dataset of over 10,000 bond issuances from 97 countries, identifying key patterns in bond allocation across developed and developing economies. The evidence presented shows that Green Bonds remain by far the most prevalent circular economylinked instruments, especially in areas such as renewal energy and energy efficiency. Nevertheless, other thematic bonds, like the Social and Sustainability Bonds, present a lower level of compliance with the circular economy. The analyses also show that although both developed and developing countries participate in thematic bonds, there are no observable trends towards concentration or diversification in either group, and both groups exhibit mixed attitudes toward sustainable projects aligned with the circular economy. The conclusion emphasizes that the referenced thematic bonds can potentially promote a sustainable development agenda, especially by enhancing circular economy processes. Therefore, this research fills the gap in the sustainable finance literature by providing details of the current state and trends of bond issuances and sustainable debt.