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This guide details the methodology used by the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI) to screen and categorize self-labeled debt instruments for inclusion in the CBI Green Bond Database. The process ensures that included bonds align with the Climate Bonds Taxonomy and industry standards to support the goals of the Paris Agreement.

This report by the Climate Bonds Initiative analyzes post-issuance reporting practices for 694 green bonds (USD 212bn) issued between November 2017 and March 2019. It finds that while use-of-proceeds (UoP) reporting is widespread, impact reporting is less common and highly unstandardized. The study evaluates reporting quality through a scoring system, identifies best practices, and advocates for a global, harmonized reporting framework to move beyond binary labels toward absolute, entity-level sustainability assessments.

This guide outlines the methodology used by the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI) to assess and include debt instruments in its Green Bond Database. It details a three-step screening process based on the Climate Bonds Taxonomy to ensure that listed bonds align with climate science and the 2-degree Celsius warming limit set by the Paris Agreement.