Water Infrastructure Criteria under the Climate Bonds Standard

The Water Infrastructure Criteria, published by the Climate Bonds Initiative in January 2021, provide a technical framework for certifying bonds that finance water-related assets. The criteria cover engineered, nature-based, and hybrid infrastructure used for water collection, storage, treatment, distribution, flood protection, and drought resilience. To achieve certification, assets must meet both mitigation requirements (reducing GHG emissions) and adaptation and resilience requirements (demonstrating robustness to climate change).

• The Water Infrastructure Criteria apply to a broad range of assets, including engineered 'grey' infrastructure, nature-based solutions, and hybrid systems. Eligible assets include those for water collection, storage, treatment, distribution, flood protection, and drought resilience, spanning sectors such as healthcare, sanitation, and natural resource management.
• To be eligible for certification, assets must satisfy both a Mitigation Component and an Adaptation & Resilience Component. The Mitigation Component requires that projects either have no net GHG emissions impact or demonstrate a negative net GHG emissions impact relative to a business-as-usual baseline using credible methodologies like the UNFCCC’s Clean Development Mechanism.
• Desalination plants are subject to a specific carbon intensity threshold to meet mitigation requirements. The average carbon intensity of the electricity used for desalination must be at or below 100g CO2e/kWh for every year of the bond's lifetime.
• Assets with an expected operational lifespan of more than 20 years that are marked as conditional for Adaptation & Resilience must undergo a Vulnerability Assessment and, if necessary, an Adaptation Plan. Eligibility is determined by a Scorecard across six sections: Allocation, Governance, Technical Diagnostics, Nature-Based Solutions, Desalination Plants, and the Adaptation Plan Assessment.
• To pass the Adaptation & Resilience component, a project must score at least 60% of the maximum potential score in every individual part of the Scorecard, including the specific subsections for Nature-Based Solutions and Desalination Plants.
• The criteria explicitly exclude certain sectors and asset types. Investments in fossil fuel, nuclear, or mining sectors are not covered, nor are water-driven energy assets such as hydropower, wave, and tidal installations, which are governed by separate criteria.

APA

Climate Bonds Initiative (2021). Water Infrastructure Criteria under the Climate Bonds Standard. https://www.climatebonds.net/files/drupal-files/files/Water%20Criteria%20Document%20Final_17Jan21.pdf

Chicago

Climate Bonds Initiative. Water Infrastructure Criteria under the Climate Bonds Standard. 2021. https://www.climatebonds.net/files/drupal-files/files/Water%20Criteria%20Document%20Final_17Jan21.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Bonds Initiative |title=Water Infrastructure Criteria under the Climate Bonds Standard |date=January 2021 |url=https://www.climatebonds.net/files/drupal-files/files/Water%20Criteria%20Document%20Final_17Jan21.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climatebondsinitiative2021water, author = {{Climate Bonds Initiative}}, title = {{Water Infrastructure Criteria under the Climate Bonds Standard}}, institution = {Climate Bonds Initiative}, year = {2021}, month = jan, url = {https://www.climatebonds.net/files/drupal-files/files/Water%20Criteria%20Document%20Final_17Jan21.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }