Sustainable Debt Market Summary Q1 2024

The report details a record-breaking Q1 2024 for aligned GSS+ debt, with USD 272.7bn added. Green bonds dominated the market, while Europe remained the primary regional source. The report also highlights the growth of sovereign GSS+ issuance, the emergence of nuclear energy in green bond frameworks in North America, and the evolving alignment of sustainability-linked bonds (SLBs) with Climate Bonds' methodology.

• Q1 2024 was the most prolific quarter ever recorded by Climate Bonds for aligned GSS+ deals, with USD 272.7bn in volume added. This represents a 15% increase over Q1 2023 (USD 237.2bn) and a 41% increase over Q4 2023 (USD 193bn).
• Green bonds were the primary driver of GSS+ volume in Q1 2024, accounting for 72% of the total at USD 195.9bn. Europe was the largest regional source, providing 55% of the total aligned GSS+ volume (USD 149.5bn).
• Cumulative aligned sovereign GSS+ volume exceeded USD 0.5tn, reaching USD 538.3bn by the end of Q1 2024. In Q1 2024, 22 sovereign issuers contributed USD 52.5bn in aligned volume, including debut green bonds from Japan (USD 10.6bn) and Romania (USD 2.2bn).
• Aligned sustainability-linked bond (SLB) volume reached USD 3.1bn in Q1 2024, a 37% decrease from Q1 2023. Only 28.3% of SLB issuance in Q1 2024 aligned with the Climate Bonds SLBDB methodology, with partial emission coverage in targets cited as the primary barrier to alignment.
• Nuclear energy is increasingly being included as an eligible green project in North American frameworks. Examples include Bruce Power LP's CAD 600m green bond, Constellation Energy Generation LLC's USD 900m deal, and the Government of Canada's CAD 4bn green bond.
• Aligned sukuk issuance reached USD 2.4bn in Q1 2024 across eight deals. Indonesia and Malaysia have both issued sovereign green or sustainability sukuk, with Indonesia's cumulative aligned sovereign green sukuk volume reaching USD 8.8bn.

APA

Chouhan, N., & Harrison, C. (2024). Sustainable Debt Market Summary Q1 2024. Climate Bonds Initiative. https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/Quarterly-Market-Update-Q1-2024.pdf

Chicago

Chouhan, Neeraj, and Caroline Harrison. Sustainable Debt Market Summary Q1 2024. Climate Bonds Initiative, 2024. https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/Quarterly-Market-Update-Q1-2024.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Chouhan |first1=Neeraj |last2=Harrison |first2=Caroline |title=Sustainable Debt Market Summary Q1 2024 |publisher=Climate Bonds Initiative |date=1 June 2024 |url=https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/Quarterly-Market-Update-Q1-2024.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{chouhan2024sustainable, author = {Chouhan, Neeraj and Harrison, Caroline}, title = {{Sustainable Debt Market Summary Q1 2024}}, institution = {Climate Bonds Initiative}, year = {2024}, month = jun, url = {https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/Quarterly-Market-Update-Q1-2024.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }