Thailand’s $750 Million Nature Bond Puts Biodiversity at the Heart of Public Finance

Thailand’s climate commitment is to keep net greenhouse gas emissions below 152 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2035, representing a 47% reduction from 2019 levels.

Thailand has brought biodiversity into government borrowing with a 25 billion baht bond, worth approximately $750 million, that connects public financing with measurable commitments to cut emissions and protect natural areas. Supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the transaction marks Asia and the Pacific's first sovereign sustainability-linked bond to include a nature-related indicator, giving conservation a place in the financial commitments a government makes to investors.

Issued on 17 September with a 15-year maturity, the bond will support efforts to meet two environmental goals tied to Thailand's national priorities and international commitments. Its inclusion of biodiversity gives investors a broader view of the country's environmental progress, covering both the greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere and the protection of land and inland waters that sustain ecosystems.

Two Targets Give the Bond Its Environmental Purpose

Thailand's climate commitment is to keep net greenhouse gas emissions below 152 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2035, representing a 47% reduction from 2019 levels. Carbon dioxide equivalent expresses the warming effects of different greenhouse gases through a common measure, making it possible to track progress against a national emissions target.

The nature commitment calls for conservation and management covering at least 30% of the country's terrestrial and inland water areas by 2030 through protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures. These measures recognise places that deliver lasting biodiversity protection outside formally designated protected areas, expanding the ways Thailand can safeguard habitats and track conservation outcomes.

Investor Demand Pushes Fundraising Beyond the Original Plan

Subscriptions reached 2.8 times the planned issue amount of 15 billion baht, reflecting strong demand from domestic and international investors, with the completed issuance raising 25 billion baht. The response shows investor confidence in a government financing instrument that places measurable environmental commitments alongside its borrowing needs.

The transaction builds on Thailand's inaugural sovereign sustainability-linked bond issuance in 2024, introducing a nature-related key performance indicator and setting more ambitious environmental targets. ADB Country Director for Thailand Aaron Batten described the issuance as evidence that capital markets can support emissions reduction and biodiversity outcomes, strengthening Thailand's position in sustainable finance and offering other governments a model for turning environmental commitments into measurable results.

ADB Support Connects National Goals With Regional Finance

ADB helped select the indicators, coordinate partners and review the bond framework for alignment with international standards, providing technical assistance through the Green Social Sustainability and Other-labeled (GSS+) Finance Initiative. The initiative brings together the ASEAN Catalytic Green Finance Facility (ACGF) and the Asian Bond Markets Initiative (ABMI), with support for the transaction also coming from the Nature Solutions Finance Hub, an ADB-led platform that helps expand investment benefiting nature across the region.

ACGF operates under the ASEAN Infrastructure Fund to accelerate green infrastructure investment in Southeast Asia; ABMI brings together ASEAN governments, the People's Republic of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea to develop local currency bond markets. Batten linked Thailand's issuance to ADB's commitment to mobilise $30 billion through capital markets by 2030, placing the bond within a wider effort to bring investment into projects and policies that deliver measurable environmental benefits.