Publications

Green Bond Handbook: a Step-by-step guide to issuing a Green Bond (Spanish)

The Handbook has been compiled by market practitioners with deep practical experience of working with issuers and investors and will be updated periodically to reflect innovation in practice in the Green Bond market. This Handbook focuses on structuring a Green Bond which is compliant with the ICMA Green Bond Principles, which are adopted by 95% of issuers.

Cómo Preparase Para Emisiones de Bonos Verdes - Manual Para Instituciones Financieras en América Latina y El Caribe

Este Manual para Instituciones Financieras en América Latina y el Caribe proporciona a las IFs un enfoque paso a paso para prepararse para la emisión de un bono verde. Aborda una gama de desafíos que las IFs deben afrontar, incluida la identificación de una cartera verde, la definición de criterios de elegibilidad alineados con taxonomías de finanzas sostenibles, el desarrollo de indicadores robustos que abarquen métricas tanto de producto como de resultado, el establecimiento de un proceso de selección y evaluación de carteras y la definición de la gestión de los fondos y establecer un proceso de presentación de informes.

Preparing for Green Bond Issuances - A manual for Financial Instiutions in Latin America and the Caribbean

This Reference Guide for Financial Institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean provides FIs with a step-by-step approach to preparing for a green bond. It addresses a range of challenges that FIs must navigate, including identifying a green portfolio, defining eligibility criteria aligned with sustainable finance taxonomies, developing robust indicators that encompass both output and outcome metrics, establishing a portfolio selection and evaluation process, defining the management of proceeds, and establishing a reporting process.

Publication Date: September 2023

GUÍA DE REFERENCIA DE FINANZAS SOSTENIBLES PARA MIPYMES

Las finanzas sostenibles han desarrollado rápidamente en los últimos años. Sin embargo, falta orientación en el mercado sobre finanzas sostenibles aplicada al contexto específico de las MIPYMEs. Para ayudar a las instituciones financieras a traducir los principios de finanzas sostenibles a las operaciones que tienen con las MIPYMES, el Programa de Asistencia Técnica de Bonos Verdes de la IFC (GB-TAP) ha desarrollado esta Guía de Referencia de Finanzas Sostenibles para MIPYMES. Esta Guía, la primera en su tipo, establece un enfoque práctico para las instituciones financieras de los mercados emergentes sobre cómo implementar finanzas sostenibles para las MIPYMEs.

Publication Date: September 2023

Sustainable MSME Finance Reference Guide

Sustainable finance has rapidly developed in the last few years. Nonetheless, there is a lack of market guidance on sustainable finance applied to the specific context of MSMEs. To help financial institutions to translate sustainable finance principles to the operations they have with MSMEs, IFC Green Bond Technical Assistance Program (GB-TAP) has developed the Sustainable MSME Finance Reference Guide. This first-of-its-kind Guide sets out a practical approach for FIs in emerging markets on how to implement sustainable finance for MSMEs.

Publication Date: May 2023

Biodiversity Finance Reference Guide: May 2023 Full Report (English)

This guide builds the Green Bond Principles and the Green Loan Principles and provides an indicative list of investment projects, activities, and components that help protect, maintain, or enhance biodiversity and ecosystem services, as well as promote the sustainable management of natural resources

Publication Date: October 2022

The Basic Green Finance Reference Guide

This first edition of the Green Finance Reference Guide (GFRG) aims to be a source of knowledge and best practice for the Green Bond practitioner. It is not a step-by-step guide on how to issue a Green Bond: for such a guide, readers should consult the Green Bond Handbook (GBH), a sister publication by the IFC.

Publication Date: March 2022

Green Bond Handbook: a Step-by-step guide to issuing a Green Bond

The Green Bond Handbook is a step-by-step guide on how to prepare and execute a successful Green Bond issue for Financial Institutions. Since the market is already well-served by pertinent and timely research, this living document is intended to be a practical guide for potential issuers. The Green Bond Handbook is designed as a tool through which to disseminate Best Practices along the green bond process, including but not limited to, the quality of reporting. The Handbook has been compiled by market practitioners with deep practical experience of working with issuers and investors and will be updated periodically to reflect innovation in practice in the Green Bond market. This Handbook focuses on structuring a Green Bond which is compliant with the ICMA Green Bond Principles, which are adopted by 95% of issuers.

White Paper 3 - The role of ESG disclosure in sustainable bond investment decisions

This white paper series examines whether data and reporting infrastructure intended to support ESG disclosure requirements lowers the barriers and burdens of data availability and quality required to meet sustainable bond impact reporting obligations, comply with reporting principles, and encourage sustainable bond issuance.

White Paper 2 - an examination of the correlation between ESG disclosure rating and sustainable bond issuance in emerging markets

The second white paper of a three-part series exploring the potential correlation between ESG disclosure rating and sustainable bond issuance among emerging market entities.

White Paper 1 - Introduction to: ESG disclosure, sustainable bonds, and emerging markets

The first white paper of a three-part series exploring the potential correlation between ESG disclosure and sustainable bond issuance in emerging markets.

Publication Date: July 2023

Emerging Market Green Bonds

The fifth edition of the Emerging Market Green Bonds Report reviews key green, social, sustainability, and sustainability-linked (GSSS) bond market trends in 2022 and outlines our expectations for 2023 and beyond. It also discusses the implications for the asset class of recent developments in policy, regulation, and technology.

Biodiversity Finance Reference Guide: Nov 2022 Full Report (French)

This guide builds the Green Bond Principles and the Green Loan Principles and provides an indicative list of investment projects, activities, and components that help protect, maintain, or enhance biodiversity and ecosystem services, as well as promote the sustainable management of natural resources

Publication Date: August 2023

Emerging Markets Real Economy Sustainability Bonds Volume II - supported by IFC and HSBC

Country focus: Poland, Romania, Türkiye, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan
Sector analysis: Power, Transport, Agribusiness

Green Bond Fund Impact Reporting Practices 2023

The 2023 edition of Environmental Finance's Green Bond Fund Impact Reporting Practices study compares the impact reporting practices of green bond funds with the impact reporting preferences of green bond fund investors.

Publication Date: July 2023

Amundi Planet Emerging Green One - 2022 Annual Impact Report

This report is produced by Amundi Asset Management (Amundi), portfolio manager of Amundi Planet Emerging Green One.

Publication Date: July 2023

Sustainable Debt Global State of the Market 2022

This report describes the shape and size of the GSS, SLB, and transition (collectively GSS+) debt market as of 31 December 2022.

Publication Date: November 2022

Biodiversity Finance Reference Guide: Nov 2022 Full Report (Chinese)

This guide builds the Green Bond Principles and the Green Loan Principles and provides an indicative list of investment projects, activities, and components that help protect, maintain, or enhance biodiversity and ecosystem services, as well as promote the sustainable management of natural resources

Publication Date: October 2022

Emerging Market - Banks, Bonds, and Impact

Green bond impact reporting practices of emerging market financial institutions

Publication Date: June 2022

Emerging Market Green Bonds Report 2021

The fourth edition report highlights a sharp rebound in issuance of green bonds in emerging markets and developing economies in 2021 as a result of rising demand from both domestic and international investors combined with expanded issuance by new and existing issuers.

Publication Date: April 2022

Amundi Planet Emerging Green One - 2021 Annual Impact Report

The fourth "Amundi Planet Emerging Green One - 2021 Annual Impact Report" features the global impact of the AP EGO Fund and the activities of the IFC managed GB-TAP on stimulating the supply of green bonds in emerging markets.

Publication Date: April 2022

Emerging Market Real Economy Sustainable Bonds

This report examines the potential for sustainable bond issuance in five countries focussing on three key sectors.

Publication Date: September 2021

Latin America & Caribbean State of the Market 2021

This publication is the second instalment of our State of the Market series for the Latin America & Caribbean (LAC) region. The report describes the shape and size of labelled Green, Social and Sustainability (GSS) debt issued by entities domiciled in LAC to the end of June 2021 (H1 2021). The market analysis is complemented by an overview of key policy developments and opportunities for growth of sustainable finance in LAC.

Publication Date: January 2022

Green Bond Funds - Impact Reporting Practices 2021

Green Bond Funds - Impact Reporting Practices 2021 is a free-to-view report from Environmental Finance, supported by GB-TAP

Publication Date: May 2021

AI Solutions to Support ESG Integration in Emerging Markets

This paper describes potential approaches for institutional investors and asset managers to align their investment strategies for emerging markets with the Sustainable Development Goals through environmental, social, and governance (ESG)-integrated investments. A key challenge limiting institutional investors and asset managers from investing in emerging markets is the lack of material ESG data for emerging market issuers. Investors are making use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning technologies such as Natural Language Processing to support ESG data analysis. The paper recommends support for open-access ESG and impact data, the use of AI to extend analytics, and cross-industry collaborations between big finance and big tech

Publication Date: March 2021

The Race for Green Capital in Emerging Markets

The interview-based report "Marathon or Sprint? The Race for Green Capital in Emerging Markets" authored by the Centre for Climate Finance & Investment at Imperial College Business School finds that while Emerging Markets (EM) are highly vulnerable to climate change, they are not attracting and deploying sufficient capital to fund climate transition, mitigation, and adaptation measures. Hurdles preventing the issuance of sufficient sustainable bond products include insufficient market standardization and investor development, overly short-term focused investment approaches, and the failure of green finance frameworks to address the needs for transition financing in EM. The report proposes to focus on coordinated launches of transition bonds for heavy emitters, addressing climate concerns with issuers, and lowering the focus on indexation in favor of long-term investing. International Financial Institutions and Sovereign Wealth Funds are well-placed to provide the patient risk-capital and risk-sharing and are encouraged to increase their involvement in stimulating EM transition finance.

Publication Date: April 2021

Emerging Market Green Bonds Report 2020

The third edition of the "Emerging Market Green Bonds Report" highlights the key trends in and outlook for green bond market developments in emerging markets (EMs) in the context of the COVID-19 crisis. The report also provides a broad overview of the policy and regulatory updates that could affect the green bond market.

Publication Date: April 2021

Amundi Planet Emerging Green One - 2020 Annual Impact Report

The third "Amundi Planet Emerging Green One Fund --- Annual Impact Report" features the global impact of the AP EGO Fund and the activities of IFC managed Technical Assistance Program (GB-TAP) on stimulating the supply of green bonds in emerging markets. This report highlights key impact parameters such as CO2 emissions avoided, the amount invested in green bonds, etc. The report also showcases the ESG profile and climate impacts of issuers in the portfolio and sets great examples of green finance in emerging markets.

Publication Date: December 2020

Green Bond Funds - Impact Reporting Practices 2020

Green Bond Funds - Impact Reporting Practices 2020 is a free-to-view report from Environmental Finance, supported by GB-TAP

Publication Date: June 2020

Emerging Markets: Assessment of Hard-Currency Bond Market

The Emerging Markets: Assessment of Hard-Currency Bond Market report finds that 804 financial institutions, including 398 banks, across 60 emerging-market countries issued hard-currency bonds with a total of $648 billion in outstanding value as of June 2019. While relatively small compared to the global bond market outstanding ($107 trillion as the end of 2018), the segment is sufficiently large and diversified to deploy specific investment strategies.

Publication Date: May 2020

Emerging Market Green Bonds Report 2019: Momentum Builds as Nascent Markets Grow

The second edition of the joint IFC-Amundi "Emerging Market Green Bonds Report" highlights where there has been growth and where there is potential in the emerging market green bond market. Although there are still further challenges to be addressed, the market is poised for growth over the coming years, with nascent green bond markets scaling up if the right steps are taken.

Publication Date: March 2020

Amundi Planet Emerging Green One - 2019 Annual Impact Report

The second Amundi Planet Emerging Green One Fund Annual Impact Report highlights the work of the AP EGO Fund, and its associated IFC-managed technical assistance program (GB-TAP), to develop the supply and demand for emerging market green bonds—efforts that are crucial to unlocking the potential of green bonds and financing green solutions in emerging markets.

Publication Date: April 2019

Emerging Market Green Bonds Report 2018: A Consolidation Year Paving the Way for Growth

IFC and Amundi conducted the first-ever analysis of the global cross-border bonds issued by emerging market financial institutions over a five-year period, from 2014 to 2018. From there, this report describes the potential growth and impact of green bonds in emerging markets. The findings should inspire a greater understanding of the estimated $29 trillion climate-related investment potential in emerging countries.

Publication Date: March 2018

Amundi Planet Emerging Green One - 2018 Annual Impact Report

The first Annual Impact Report of the Amundi Planet Emerging Green One Fund covers the impact of AP EGO investments and the activities of IFC managed Technical Assistance Program (GB-TAP) in support of emerging market green bond issuances. The report features the environmental, social and governance profile of issuers in the Fund's portfolio, along with a deep dive into the Fund's green bond holdings and their respective environmental performance.

Publication Date: October 2021

Impact Reporting and Adding Green to the Microfinance Value Chain

This teaching case was developed by Stockholm School of Economics for the Green Bond Technical Assistance Program

Publication Date: October 2021

Thematic bonds in Colombia: A case study

This case study describes all thematic bonds issued in Colombia to date (May 2021). From in-depth interviews with the leading issuers, investors, and regulators, we summarize the main drivers and obstacles in developing these emerging financial instruments, together with the impacts these bonds have had on the Colombian capital market.

Publication Date: March 2020

Converting Emerging Markets to Green Finance: Amundi and the IFC

The first Annual Impact Report of the Amundi Planet Emerging Green One Fund covers the impact of AP EGO investments and the activities of IFC managed Technical Assistance Program (GB-TAP) in support of emerging market green bond issuances. The report features the environmental, social and governance profile of issuers in the Fund's portfolio, along with a deep dive into the Fund's green bond holdings and their respective environmental performance.

Publication Date: October 2020

Isbank Case Study: Green Bonds in Emerging Markets (Part A)

This teaching case developed by the Stockholm School of Economics offers a compelling narrative of İşbank's green bond issuance journey from the perspective of Derya Sargın Malkoç (Assistant Manager, Investor Relations) and Nilgün Yosef Osman (Manager, Structured Finance) who both participated in the Green Bonds and Sustainable Finance Executive Program, organized by IFC managed Technical Assistance Program (GB-TAP). Shortly after completing the program, Malkoç and Osman persuaded their senior management to issue what might be Turkey's first pure green bond of $50 million on Euronext Dublin in July 2019.

Publication Date: October 2020

Isbank Case Study: Green Bonds in Emerging Markets (Part B)

This teaching case developed by the Stockholm School of Economics offers a compelling narrative of İşbank's green bond issuance journey from the perspective of Derya Sargın Malkoç (Assistant Manager, Investor Relations) and Nilgün Yosef Osman (Manager, Structured Finance) who both participated in the Green Bonds and Sustainable Finance Executive Program, organized by IFC managed Technical Assistance Program (GB-TAP). Shortly after completing the program, Malkoç and Osman persuaded their senior management to issue what might be Turkey's first pure green bond of $50 million on Euronext Dublin in July 2019.