The proceeds of the 7-year green bond will support low-carbon and climate resilient project funding through ADB’s ordinary resources.

ADB Treasurer Pierre Van Peteghem said: “We are very pleased to accommodate the strong demand for our green bond from euro investors in last night’s offering, which allowed us to both tighten price guidance while increasing the issue size for our first euro denominated benchmark green bond.”

The bank issued its first US dollar denominated green bond in 2016 and has since expanded its bond offering.

ADB’s financing of climate change and adaptation reached $4.5bn in 2017, a 21% increase from the year before.

This means that the development bank is on path to meet its $6bn annual climate financing target by 2020, it said.

Out of the target, $4bn will be dedicated to mitigation through scaling up support for renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable transport, and building ‘smart cities’, the bank said.

The additional $2bn will be used for adaptation through resilient infrastructure, climate-smart agriculture and better preparation for climate-related disasters.