This is Climate Bonds Initiative’s first study on post-issuance reporting of green bonds. The aim is to follow up on post-issuance reporting by green bond issuers to see how thoroughly they are reporting on green bond allocation and projects.
The Climate Bonds Standard and Green Bond Principles both emphasise that issuers need to report back to investors post-issuance on how bond proceeds are being allocated. To date, there has been very little collated information on whether or not this is happening and the quality of information that is being provided. This report attempts to fill this gap.
Summary Findings
- There is public reporting for 74% of green bonds issued before 1 April 2016
- Most issuers are reporting annually
- Content and quality of reporting varies but is generally better for larger, frequent issuers
- Reporting is improving but there is little consistency across the market making comparison difficult
- There is an increasing trend towards impact reporting
- Impact reporting is useful to investor but a balance needs to be struck between useful reporting and over-burdensome reporting requirements