Green Bond Market
Summary Q3 2020
November 2020
Q3 Issuer types 2018-2020

Key figures

7060• USD69.4bn of issuance, the highest recorded
in any third quarter period15040• 314 deals from 191 individual issuers

30
USD Billions• 52 benchmark issues of at least USD500m• Representation from 39 countries including
71 deals from the USA, 48 from Germany, 40
from Sweden, and 30 from Japan

20
100
2017
Loan

• 73 debut green bond issuers
from 29 countries
Q3 Use of Proceeds 2018-2020

2018

Sovereign

2019

Government-Backed Entity

Local Government

Development BankNon-Financial Corporate

Financial Corporate

ABS

Monthly issuance volumes 2018-2020

100%

353075%20182020

2019

2550%

201525%102018

2019

USD Billions0%2020

EnergyBuildings

TransportWater

Land use

IndustryWaste

ICTUnallocated A&R

50JanFebMar

Apr MayJunJul

Aug

Sep

USD Billions (Cumulative)

erth
O

Ko
rea

So

ut
hng
ap

Ita

Si

Por

Nor

napa

CaJa

Spiona

at

Chi

pran
Su

rla
heFran

Net

rm

Ge

Green Bond Market Summary Q3 2020 Climate Bonds Initiative

ore0ly0tugal30

UK

5Chile60way10da90n15

ainSw
eden120l20na150

nds25

ce180

any30

USA

USD Billions (2020)

Top 2020 countries: Amount issued (2020 vs. Cumulative)1

Q3 2020 green bond issuance highlights
Green bonds, loans and sukuk added to the Climate Bonds Database for Q32020 reached USD69.4bn, the second highest recorded amount in any individualquarter (following Q2 2019 at USD73.1bn), and 21% more than Q2 2020.
Cumulative issuance volume since inception reached USD948bn. We expect
the Climate Bonds Database to breach the USD1tn milestone in Q4. While otherdata sources have already reached this mark, the Climate Bonds Database only
includes bonds with 100% of net proceeds dedicated to green assets or projectsaligned with the Climate Bonds Taxonomy.2
Renewed confidence supported
by strong policy signals
Green bond issuers dipped a cautious toe in themarket towards the end of Q2, but confidence
returned in abundance in Q3 resulting in the mostprolific third quarter recorded. Entities that had
postponed coming to the market earlier in the year decided to takethe plunge, and momentum grew with each month. The COVID-19
pandemic has shone a spotlight on the investment community andthe role it can play in a sustainable and green recovery. The policy
narrative has supported this sentiment with a strong focus on buildingback better. In late September, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced
a target for China to become carbon neutral before 2060 following
dozens of other countries who have pledged similar goals. China isalready the source of the second largest amount of green bonds after
the USA with cumulative issuance of USD117bn and this commitment
will likely require multiples of that investment. The EU has committed
to reach net zero by 2050 and is combining this ambition with adigital transition and post COVID-19 recovery. In mid-September,
European Commission President Ursula von der Layen confirmed EU
plans to issue EUR225bn in green bonds over the next few years. This
could galvanise a substantial shift into green bonds by both issuers
and investors. Issuers will be inclined to align themselves with thesedevelopments by transforming their entities into climate compatible
operations, and investors will be encouraged to commit funds to green
investment strategies if there is a steady supply of available paper.

Corporates embrace the green label
Financial and non-financial corporate issuers have
GREEN
been the biggest source of green bonds in every
quarter since Q3 2018. In Q3 2020, financial
corporate issuance reached 17.6bn, an 18%
increase compared to the same period in 2019 andincluded 71 individual deals. Two thirds of the amount (USD11.6bn)
came from 15 benchmark sized deals of USD500m or more. The
USD16.6bn of non-financial corporate issuance matched that of Q3
2019 and was spread across 82 deals.
The largest of the financial corporate deals was a debut green
bond from Munich Re in the form of an EUR1.25bn (USD1.39bn)
subordinated fix-to-float deal. ING and Rabobank also favoured thefixed-to-float structure, each issuing USD1bn. Norwegian residential
mortgage lender Sparebank 1 Boligkreditt priced a EUR1bn(USD1.11bn) 7-year covered green bond in mid-September. We expectthat the strong policy support mentioned earlier will translate into
more green lending opportunities for banks and we therefore look forcontinued growth in this sector.

Green Bond Market Summary Q3 2020 Climate Bonds InitiativeNon-financial corporate deals featured multiple stalwart utility
and real estate issuers, and a peppering of household names fromother sectors. The largest of these were German auto manufacturers
Daimler and Volkswagen, both of which issued green bonds tosupport their transition to electric vehicles. This is good news forgreen bond investors seeking diversification.3 The transition toelectric vehicles is business as usual for most auto manufacturers
and bonds issued to meet the associated costs are often labeled as‘general corporate purposes’. Volkswagen issued the largest single
non-financial corporate bond of Q3 in the form of an EUR1.25bn(USD1.39bn) 8-year deal, together with an EUR750m (USD834m)
12-year bond. The Daimler debut was an EUR1bn (USD1.1bn) green
bond. US telecom provider Verizon came to the market for thesecond time with a USD1bn 10-year bond to finance long-term
renewable energy purchase agreements. Mexico domiciled CocaCola FEMSA entered the green bond market in early September witha USD705m 12-year deal to finance a variety of projects including
energy efficiency, and recycling facilities for its packaging.
Government backed entities experienced 35% growth comparedto Q3 2019. The largest individual deal was a USD1.2bn 10-yearfrom Hong Kong public transport network MTR. The proceeds will
be divided between five project categories the largest being Low
Carbon Transport.

USA tops the country rankings
The country rankings for 2020 to the end of Q3
are led by USA (USD32.3bn), Germany (21.4bn)
and France (17.8bn). While Chinese issuance(USD9bn) still has a way to go to meet its totalfor 2019 (USD31.4bn), it remains the country
with the second largest cumulative total (USD105bn) after the USA(USD205bn). The US has experienced record bond issuance in2020. Issuers have been keen to exploit the magic cocktail of low
interest rates and the FED’s commitment to buy corporate bonds
by refinancing or shoring up capital. This has extended to green
bonds with US issuers printing 71 in Q3 2020. All except one weredenominated in USD (Digital Realty Trust priced an EUR750m/
USD834m 12-year in late September) with the smallest beinga USD0.5m 2-year note from Mountaintop Area Joint Sanitary
Authority and the largest, a USD1.36bn deal from LA County MTA
which was split into 22 tranches.

2

LuxSE top green bond listing venues in Q1-Q3 2020
Certified Climate Bond (CCB)

External review (Excl. CCB)No Review

18
1345Nasdaq Nordic

Others (excl. OTC)

19Nasdaq DU

TradeGate

Nasdaq NordicNasdaq LT

Nasdaq DK

Nasdaq FI

Nasdaq SE

Nasdaq SB SEHKEXMTSLSEG14 15 17SGX

12 13
23 25 28 29 30

LSE

BerlinFrankfurt

All German SE

All German SE

20 24

SIX

10 111821 22 27
Nordic ABM

Amsterdam

DublinEURONEXT

9

XETRA

LuxSE

Paris

LGX

LuxSE

0

EuroMTF

25Oslo16

EURONEXT

3

Hannover78

Dusseldorf

66Munich

9
USD Billions

2

Stuttgart

12

Lisbon15

Listing venue league table

Listing venue league table: Methodology

In Q1-Q3 2020, USD115.6bn worth of green bonds were listed onvarious stock exchanges, representing 69% of the total green bondissuance for the period (USD166.7bn).

Primary data sources for listing venues include Refinitiv EIKON,Bloomberg Terminal and Wind Financial Terminal. They are further
supplemented by information collected from stock exchanges with adedicated green bond segment, such as LGX, LSE, Borsa Italiana, SSEand Taipei Exchange.

In the league table above, we have grouped venues by stock
exchange group, where applicable.
The numbers on top of the bars indicate the ranking of each venue.
The Luxembourg Stock Exchange is the most popular green bondlisting platform, with USD16.3bn worth of deals traded across itsvenues in Q1-Q3 2020, of which 12% were Certified
Climate Bonds (CCB). The largest listed green bond in Q3 was a
EUR3.0bn (USD3.5bn) 8-year bond from KfW.
Euronext Paris was the second largest stock exchange withUSD14.3bn, followed by all the German Stock Exchanges andLuxembourg Green Exchange.

• At most four listing venues are recorded for calculation purposes.
If a bond is listed on multiple exchanges, primary vs. secondary
listing venues are not differentiated.
• When a green bond is listed on more than one venue, the issued
amount is divided by the number of venues and each venue isallocated an equal share.
• We have not allocated bonds listed on All German SE, EURONEXT
and Nasdaq Nordic to the constituent stock exchanges.
• A bond listing venue is treated as “Not listed” when the bond is
not listed or relevant information is not available from the sources
identified in this methodology.
• Bond volumes allocated to each listing venue are categorised into
Certified Climate Bonds (CCB), bonds with external reviews (otherthan Certified Climate Bonds) and bonds with no external reviews.
• Bonds issued before the Green Bond Principles were first publishedin 2014 generally do not have external reviews. Many of the earlyissues have now matured.
• Some external reviews may not be available until an assurance
audit is completed. For instance, KPMG provides an annual
independent review of EIB’s Climate Awareness Bonds. The 2017assurance report was published in Novermber-2018.
• If a bond is traded on LuxSE and displayed on LGX at the sametime, only LGX is recorded as its trading venue to avoid doublecounting.

Green Bond Market Summary Q3 2020 Climate Bonds Initiative3

JPM, CACIB and BoFA in top 3 of Green Bond Underwriters League Tables in Q1-Q3 2020
Total without US Munis

US Muni

1293

NordeaNomuraSwedbank

Mizuho

RBC Capital

Santander

BBVA

Credit Suisse

Danske Bank

Goldman Sachs

SEB

NatWest Markets

Commerzbank

UniCredit

Morgan Stanley

ING

Societe Generale

HSBC

Deutsche Bank

Barclays

BNP ParibasCiti

BofA Securities

Credit Agricole

0JP Morgan

USD Billions

6JP Morgan, Societe Generale and Credit Agricole in top 3 of Certified green bond underwriters
League Tables in Q1-Q3 2020
431

Green bond underwriter league tables
JP Morgan was the largest green bond underwriter in the global
market in Q1-Q3 2020 with a total of USD12.9bn. Its top three
underwritten deals in Q3 came from Rentenbank (EUR1.5bn/USD1.6bn), AIB Group (EUR1.5bn/USD1.1BN) and CPPIB (EUR1bn/USD1.1bn). Of the total underwritten amount by JP Morgan, 14%
came from green US Munis.

Rabobank

UBSMizuhoDanske Bank

Skandinaviska

Commerzbank

Swedbank

Citi

LBBW

Morgan Stanley

Barclays

HSBC

ING

Wells Fargo

BNPJefferies

BofA Securities

Credit Agricole

Societe Generale

0JP Morgan

USD Billions

2Credit Agricole came in second with USD2.3bn. It was joint leadunderwriter for China Merchant Bank (USD800m) and China
Construction Bank (USD700m).
BofA securities took third place in the CCB underwriter rankings.
It was a joint lead underwriter for Metropolitan Transportation
Authority ($900mn) and China Construction Bank ($700mn).

The second spot went to Credit Agricole, which racked up total
bookrunner volume of USD8.4bn in the first three quarters of 2020.
BofA securities was a close third with USD8.2bn, of which 19%
came from US Munis. JP Morgan was the top underwriter of CCB in
the first three quarters of 2020 with the total underwritten amount ofUSD3.4bn. In Q3 2020 JP Morgan underwrote deals from New York
Metropolitan Transportation Authority ($900mn), China Merchants
Bank ($800mn) and China Construction Bank ($ 700mn)

Green Bond Market Summary Q3 2020 Climate Bonds Initiative4

Underwriter league tables: MethodologySince Q3 2016, the underwriter league tables have been collatedusing data from Refinitiv except for US municipal bonds which arecalculated by Climate Bonds. As such, ranking volumes differ from
Refinitiv tables. Volumes may differ from other league tables as they
include ABS deals and US Muni bonds, as well as only including
bonds which have 95% or more of proceeds going to assets orprojects aligned with the Climate Bonds Taxonomy.

Refinitiv data methodology• Primary Issuance only. Excludes tax exempt US Municipal bonds• Underwritten transactions only• The global table includes transactions that mature at least 360
days after settlement• Self-funded straight debt transactions are excluded (excluding
mortgage and asset securitizations) unless two or moremanagers/ underwriters unrelated to the issuer are present.
• Transactions with an issue size of less than USD1m (equivalent)
are included; sole led MTN take downs with a minimum size of
USD50m for core currencies are included, USD10m for non-core• Deals must be received within five business days of pricing• For a transaction to be green league table eligible, deals must have
100% of proceeds formally earmarked for green projects• Deals with mixed use of proceeds designated across different
projects are not eligible: e.g. Sustainability bonds that combinesocial and green projects• Securitisation deals and private placements will be included
provided they meet the standard criteria• Transactions that mature or are callable/puttable less than 360
days after settlement are excluded

Endnotes
1. All charts and analysis are based on preliminary figures for Q3 issuance volume and number of deals,
pending the inclusion of 243 deals still being assessed for inclusion in the Climate Bonds Database. 79of those deals were issued in Q3 2020.
2. The minimum threshold for green projects was increased to from 95% to 100% on 1st October 2020.
All bonds issued prior to that were evaluated for inclusion based on at least 95% of the proceeds being
allocated to projects in compliance with the green definitions set out in the Climate Bonds Database
Methodology.”
3. https://www.climatebonds.net/resources/reports/green-bond-european-investor-survey-2019

Climate Bonds Initiative © November 2020www.climatebonds.net

Design: Godfrey Design
Disclaimer: The information contained in this communication does not constitute investment advice in any form and the Climate Bonds Initiative is not an investment adviser. Any reference to a financialorganisation or debt instrument or investment product is for information purposes only. Links to external websites are for information purposes only. The Climate Bonds Initiative accepts no responsibility forcontent on external websites. The Climate Bonds Initiative is not endorsing, recommending or advising on the financial merits or otherwise of any debt instrument or investment product and no information within
this document should be taken as such, nor should any information in this communication be relied upon in making any investment decision. Certification under the Climate Bond Standard only reflects the climate
attributes of the use of proceeds of a designated debt instrument. It does not reflect the credit worthiness of the designated debt instrument, nor its compliance with national or international laws. A decision toinvest in anything is solely yours. The Climate Bonds Initiative accepts no liability of any kind, for any investment an individual or organisation makes, nor for any investment made by third parties on behalf of anindividual or organisation, based in whole or in part on any information contained within this, or any other Climate Bonds Initiative public communication

Green Bond Market Summary Q3 2020 Climate Bonds Initiative

5