Can US municipals scale up green bond issuance?

The Climate Bonds Initiative conducted a scoping exercise to identify the potential for US municipal issuers to scale up green bond issuance. The study identified USD 264 billion in outstanding bonds from 1,436 'pure-play' climate-aligned issuers—entities deriving more than 95% of their revenue from climate solutions—most of which are not currently labeled as green bonds.

• US municipal green bond issuance grew from the first issuance in 2013 by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to USD 12 billion in 2017, representing 27% of total US green bond issuance for that year.
• Green bond issuance among US municipals declined in the first half of 2018, mirroring a broader trend where total US municipal issuance fell 22% between January-May 2017 (USD 162 billion) and January-May 2018 (USD 127 billion). This was largely driven by a 58% drop in refunding bond issuance following the Tax Cuts and Jobs Acts of 2017.
• A scoping exercise identified 1,436 'pure-play' climate-aligned issuers with USD 264 billion in outstanding bonds. Only USD 14 billion of this total has been issued as green bonds by 23 of these issuers.
• The water sector is the largest climate-aligned theme, accounting for 64% (USD 170 billion) of the identified bond universe and featuring 1,141 pure-play issuers. The New York City Municipal Water Finance Authority is the largest non-green bond issuer in this sector with USD 26 billion outstanding.
• The transport sector represents 30% (USD 78.5 billion) of the identified climate-aligned bonds across 52 issuers. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is the largest non-green bond issuer in this sector with USD 5.8 billion outstanding.
• The waste, land use, and energy sectors are identified as underrepresented in the green bond market. The waste sector has 65 issuers (USD 8 billion outstanding), land use has 171 issuers (USD 4.8 billion outstanding), and energy has 7 identified pure-play issuers (USD 2.6 billion outstanding).
• The report identifies significant potential for green bond scaling through the refinancing of maturing bonds. Examples include the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (USD 420 million maturing within a year), the Atlanta Department of Watershed Management (USD 1 billion maturing in two years), and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (USD 460 million maturing by June 2020).

APA

Climate Bonds Initiative (2018). Can US municipals scale up green bond issuance? https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/July-2018-Can-US-municipals-scale-up-green-bond-issuance-Likely-%E2%80%9Cyes%E2%80%9D_2025-02-17-163152_pvhw.pdf

Chicago

Climate Bonds Initiative. Can US municipals scale up green bond issuance? 2018. https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/July-2018-Can-US-municipals-scale-up-green-bond-issuance-Likely-%E2%80%9Cyes%E2%80%9D_2025-02-17-163152_pvhw.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Bonds Initiative |title=Can US municipals scale up green bond issuance? |date=July 2018 |url=https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/July-2018-Can-US-municipals-scale-up-green-bond-issuance-Likely-%E2%80%9Cyes%E2%80%9D_2025-02-17-163152_pvhw.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climatebondsinitiative2018can, author = {{Climate Bonds Initiative}}, title = {{Can US municipals scale up green bond issuance?}}, institution = {Climate Bonds Initiative}, year = {2018}, month = jul, url = {https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/July-2018-Can-US-municipals-scale-up-green-bond-issuance-Likely-%E2%80%9Cyes%E2%80%9D_2025-02-17-163152_pvhw.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }