Record issuance, shifting priorities
Latin America reached record levels of international bond issuance in 2025, supported by improving risk appetite and lower borrowing costs. In the first nine months of the year, international issuance reached US$161 billion, the highest level on record, led primarily by investment-grade issuers.¹
At the same time, sustainable-labelled issuance declined compared with previous years, as issuers prioritised execution speed and certainty amid heightened geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty.
Labelled issuance softened, investor interest remained strong
While overall issuance volumes increased, the share of green, social and sustainability bonds fell materially. Sustainable-labelled issuance in Latin America totalled US$14.1 billion over the same period, representing 8.7% of total issuance, down sharply from 2023–2024 levels.¹
Market participants attribute this shift largely to a preference for execution simplicity rather than a retreat from ESG, with issuers favouring simpler structures in a more volatile environment. European secondary market data continues to show meaningful trading activity in labelled instruments, indicating that sustainable and transition narratives remain well understood and actively priced by investors.²³
Europe as a complementary market for investor diversification
As issuance windows become shorter and more episodic, access to multiple investor pools is increasingly viewed as a balance-sheet consideration rather than a distribution preference. The ability to issue repeatedly, at scale, and across jurisdictions can materially reduce concentration risk and improve execution resilience.
In this context, European listing venues are often used as a complementary access point, providing an additional axis for market access alongside domestic and US markets.
Why Europe remains a strategic ESG hub
Despite volatility in primary labelled issuance, Europe continues to play a structurally important role in sustainable debt markets. European secondary markets remain active in labelled instruments, even during softer issuance cycles.
ICMA data for H1 2025 shows that 15% of notional traded in EU corporate secondary markets carried a sustainable finance label, compared with 12% in the UK, with green bonds representing the largest share of labelled trading in the EU.²
At issuance level, EU-wide indicators also point to a gradual structural shift: green bonds accounted for 6.9% of all bonds issued by corporates and governments across the EU in 2024, up from 5.3% in 2023.³
Positioning for optionality across market cycles
The 2025 issuance environment highlights the value of optionality. While many issuers prioritised speed over labelled complexity, maintaining access to markets with mature sustainable finance infrastructure allows issuers to adapt as conditions evolve.
European listing venues, including Euronext Dublin, have been used by international issuers as part of this broader strategy, supporting a range of debt structures, from plain-vanilla bonds to sustainable and transition formats, within a consistent regulatory framework.⁴⁵
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1. ECLATAM (CEPAL), “Capital flows to Latin America and the Caribbean: first nine months of 2025” (repositorio.cepal.org)
2. ICMA, “European Secondary Market Data Report – H1 2025 (Corporate Edition)”. (ICMA)
3. European Environment Agency (EEA), “Green bonds in Europe | Indicators” (1 Jul 2025). (European Environment Agency)
4. Euronext news release, “H1 2025 in review: Strong performance in debt listings…” (28 Jul 2025). (Euronext)
5. Euronext press release, “In 2025, Euronext strengthened its position…” (22 Dec 2025). (Euronext)