It’s a blow for proponents of the EU label, which lawmakers touted as a “gold standard” that would help stamp out greenwashing in the burgeoning market. Yet the stringent criteria, such as alignment with the bloc’s rulebook for environmentally-friendly activities, is deterring bond issuers currently abiding to industry guidelines.
The European Union’s flagship green bond program won’t abide by the bloc’s new rules for environmentally-friendly debt.
The bloc started selling such securities in 2021, before the voluntary European Green Bond Standard was finalised, to fund projects through to 2026. Due to the fixed nature of that timeframe and the fact that bond sales are already underway, its original green framework will be applied for the entirety of the issuance, the European Commission told Bloomberg.
