Green bonds as a tool against climate change?: JRC Working Papers in Economics and Finance , 2020/10

While green bonds are becoming increasingly popular in the corporate finance practice, little is known about their implications and effectiveness in terms of issuers’ environmental engagement. Using matched bond-issuer data, we test whether green bond issues are associated to a reduction in total and direct (scope 1) emissions of non-financial companies. We find that, compared to conventional bond issuers with similar financial characteristics and environmental ratings, green issuers display a decrease in the carbon intensity of their assets after borrowing on the green segment. The decrease in emissions is more pronounced, significant and long-lasting when we exclude green bonds with refinancing purposes, which is consistent with an increase in the volume of climate friendly activities due to new projects (‘additionality’). We also find a larger reduction in emissions in case of green bonds that have external review, as well as those issued after the Paris Agreement.JRC.B.1-Finance and Econom