Sustainable Debt Global State of the Market 2025

The Climate Bonds Initiative's 2025 report details the state of the global aligned GSS+ (green, social, sustainability, and sustainability-linked) debt market, which reached a cumulative volume of USD 6.8 trillion by the end of 2025. The report highlights the continued dominance of green bonds, the growth of sustainability-labelled debt, and the emergence of adaptation and resilience (A&R) finance as a significant new frontier, exemplified by the launch of the Climate Bonds Resilience Taxonomy (CBRT).

• By the end of 2025, the cumulative volume of aligned GSS+ debt reached USD 6.8 trillion. In 2025 alone, aligned GSS+ debt totaled USD 1.0 trillion, marking the third year that annual aligned volume exceeded the trillion-dollar threshold.
• Green bonds remain the largest segment of the aligned market, accounting for 64% of the total aligned GSS+ volume in 2025 (USD 653.5 billion) and surpassing a cumulative volume of USD 4 trillion by the end of the year.
• Sustainability-labelled debt reached a record annual volume of USD 217.3 billion in 2025 for the second consecutive year. For the first time since 2019, the cumulative aligned volume for sustainability bonds has marginally surpassed that of social bonds.
• The aligned sustainability-linked bond (SLB) market reached USD 14 billion in 2025. This represents 40% of the total SLB volume issued that year, the highest alignment rate recorded by Climate Bonds, suggesting improved robustness in KPIs and sustainability performance targets.
• Regional leadership is led by Europe, which accounted for 45% of both the annual (USD 467 billion) and cumulative (USD 3 trillion) aligned GSS+ volume in 2025. Asia Pacific followed with USD 305.6 billion annually and USD 1.8 trillion cumulatively, while North America's cumulative volume reached USD 998.7 billion.
• The United States is the largest single country source of cumulative aligned volume at USD 887.4 billion, followed by China (USD 683.2 billion) and France (USD 660 billion).
• Climate Bonds launched the Climate Bonds Resilience Taxonomy (CBRT) in 2025 to provide a science-based framework for adaptation and resilience (A&R) finance. A key milestone was the October 2025 issuance of the world's first CBRT-certified resilience bond by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, a EUR 300 million instrument that saw 7x oversubscription.
• Sovereign GSS+ issuance decreased by 25% year-on-year, with USD 124.6 billion priced in 2025 compared to USD 168.1 billion in 2024. Germany, France, the UK, and Italy are the most active sovereign issuers, while the Czech Republic, China, and Pakistan made their debut aligned sovereign GSS+ issuances in 2025.

APA

Javier, J. A. B., & Muldoon, C. (2026). Sustainable Debt Global State of the Market 2025. Climate Bonds Initiative. https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/Sustainable_Debt_2025_02C.pdf

Chicago

Javier, Joaquin Alfonso B., and Clodagh Muldoon. Sustainable Debt Global State of the Market 2025. Climate Bonds Initiative, 2026. https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/Sustainable_Debt_2025_02C.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Javier |first1=Joaquin Alfonso B. |last2=Muldoon |first2=Clodagh |title=Sustainable Debt Global State of the Market 2025 |publisher=Climate Bonds Initiative |date=March 2026 |url=https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/Sustainable_Debt_2025_02C.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{javier2026sustainable, author = {Javier, Joaquin Alfonso B. and Muldoon, Clodagh}, title = {{Sustainable Debt Global State of the Market 2025}}, institution = {Climate Bonds Initiative}, year = {2026}, month = mar, url = {https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/Sustainable_Debt_2025_02C.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }