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Lloyd Freeburn, Ian Ramsay, Green bonds: legal and policy issues, Capital Markets Law Journal, Volume 15, Issue 4, October 2020, Pages 418–442, https://doi.org/10.1093/cmlj/kmaa018
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1. Introduction
Coordinated global government action alone, were it possible, would be insufficient to mitigate the significant potential economic and financial impacts of climate change and to transition to sustainable economies. Achievement of the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change1 will require a major shift in investment patterns, necessitating trillions of dollars of investment in low-carbon and climate-resilient infrastructure.2 Ensuring that new infrastructure is low carbon increases its cost.3 Climate adaptation will require an additional $280–500 billion USD per annum in infrastructure spending by 2050, necessitating unprecedented levels of investment from the private sector.4
This is where green bonds become relevant: green bonds are considered a ‘key component’ of these efforts to fund environmentally sustainable infrastructure, offering a mechanism to assist in financing the costs of transitioning to a zero-emissions economy.5 Indeed, the former General Secretary of the United Nations, Ban Ki Moon, described the emergence of green bonds as ‘one of the most significant developments in the financing of low-carbon, climate resilient investment opportunities’.6
