Can US municipals scale up green bond issuance?

The report identifies USD264bn in outstanding bonds from 1,436 climate-aligned US municipal 'pure-play' issuers, suggesting a significant opportunity to scale the green bond market through refinancing. While issuance grew to USD12bn in 2017, it declined in H1 2018 due to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Acts of 2017, which reduced refunding bond volume. The water sector represents the largest potential, accounting for 64% (USD170bn) of the identified climate-aligned universe, followed by transport at 30% (USD78.5bn). The report highlights that waste, energy, and land use sectors are currently underrepresented in the green bond market despite having substantial climate-aligned activity.

• A scoping exercise identified 1,436 'pure-play' US municipal issuers—entities with over 95% of revenue from climate solutions—with USD264bn in outstanding bonds, of which only USD14bn are currently labelled as green bonds.
• US municipal green bond issuance grew from the first issuance in 2013 to USD12bn in 2017, representing 27% of total US green bond issuance for that year. New York, California, and Massachusetts are the top three issuing states, together accounting for 64% of the volume.
• The Tax Cuts and Jobs Acts of 2017 caused a decline in US municipal issuance in H1 2018, specifically impacting refunding bonds, which plummeted by 58% between January-May 2017 and January-May 2018.
• The water sector is the largest climate-aligned municipal bond category, with USD170bn outstanding (64% of the identified universe) and 1,141 pure-play issuers.
• The transport sector accounts for USD78.5bn (30%) of outstanding climate-aligned bonds across 52 issuers, with 99% of these bonds issued by entities managing mass transit services like metro, light rail, bus, rail, tram, and bicycle.
• Waste, land use, and energy sectors are identified as underrepresented in the green bond market. Waste accounts for USD8bn (65 issuers), land use for USD4.8bn (171 issuers), and energy for USD2.6bn (7 pure-plays).

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} }