NORTH AMERICA State of the Market 2021

The North American GSS debt market reached USD 311bn by Q1 2021, dominated by the US and primarily driven by green-labelled instruments. While the US is the largest single-country source of GSS debt, the market is heavily concentrated in agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and municipal bonds, with limited participation from the real economy's heavy-emitting sectors. Canada's market is smaller but characterized by larger average deal sizes and a strong focus on hydropower. Both nations are seeing a shift toward more ambitious climate targets and enhanced disclosure requirements, though the US lags in post-issuance reporting quality compared to Canada.

• By the end of Q1 2021, the North American GSS debt market totaled USD 311bn, with green bonds accounting for 87% of the volume.
• The US is the largest single-country source of GSS debt globally, with USD 275.9bn issued cumulatively, though this represents only 0.6% of the total USD 46tn US bond market.
• The US green bond market is heavily dominated by agency MBS from Fannie Mae, which represents 39% of all issuance; without this entity, the US would rank 4th globally instead of 1st.
• Canada's GSS market reached USD 34.8bn by Q1 2021, ranking 11th globally, with a preference for larger deal sizes (average USD 366m) compared to the US.
• In the US, buildings (USD 109bn), renewable energy (USD 58bn), and water (USD 42bn) are the leading use-of-proceeds categories for green bonds.
• Canadian green bond proceeds are primarily directed toward renewable energy (34% of total issuance), with hydropower being a major component, and low-carbon transport (23%).
• The US exhibits lower post-issuance reporting levels than Canada; the US was one of four global markets with reporting below 80% by volume, while Canada achieved 96%.
• North America has 65 issuers of unlabelled 'climate-aligned' bonds with outstanding debt worth USD 120bn, representing a significant opportunity for future green relabelling.
• Pricing analysis of 56 North American bonds indicates that green labels provide a 'greenium' or price on the curve for over 75% of the sample, suggesting investors value the label.
• The US green securitisation market is led by Fannie Mae (USD 92bn), followed by Toyota (USD 4.6bn) and Renovate America (USD 3bn).

APA

Harrison, C., & Muething, L. (2021). NORTH AMERICA State of the Market 2021. Climate Bonds Initiative. https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/Sustainable-Debt-North-America-State-of-the-Market-2021.pdf

Chicago

Harrison, Caroline, and Lea Muething. NORTH AMERICA State of the Market 2021. Climate Bonds Initiative, 2021. https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/Sustainable-Debt-North-America-State-of-the-Market-2021.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Harrison |first1=Caroline |last2=Muething |first2=Lea |title=NORTH AMERICA State of the Market 2021 |publisher=Climate Bonds Initiative |date=June 2021 |url=https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/Sustainable-Debt-North-America-State-of-the-Market-2021.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{harrison2021north, author = {Harrison, Caroline and Muething, Lea}, title = {{NORTH AMERICA State of the Market 2021}}, institution = {Climate Bonds Initiative}, year = {2021}, month = jun, url = {https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/Sustainable-Debt-North-America-State-of-the-Market-2021.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }