Green Bond Verification

Investors managing USD 45 trn of assets have made commitments to climate and responsible investment*.

A Green Bond (also known as a “Climate Bond”) is a debt instrument specifically earmarked to raise money for climate and environmental projects.

A popular green financing tool, the issuance of Green Bonds globally has increased every year from 2015 to 2019. With the diversified range of issuers across different financial institutions, corporations, governments and government-related sectors, there are many new green initiatives on the organizational agenda. With growing environmental awareness, it is thought that the green bond market will see continuous growth in the years to come.

Our Green Bond verification service determines if your bond is in accordance with the CBI Climate Bonds Standard and a range of related requirements.

*Reference: Climate Bonds Initiative

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Benefits of Green Bonds

Green Bonds enable you to:

✔ Demonstrate a commitment to environmental protection
✔ Cultivate a green innovation culture
✔ Attract green investors
✔ Diversify your company’s investor profile
✔ Lower finance costs

Enhancing the Credibility of Green Bonds

To address concerns over “greenwashing”, and confirm the credibility and transparency of Green Bonds, the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI) launched the Climate Bonds Standard and Certification Scheme (the “Scheme”).

The Standard was developed in accordance with the Green Bond Principles published by the International Capital Market Association (“ICMA”). It consists of the following four core components:

Use of proceeds
Process for project evaluation and selection
Management of proceeds
Reporting

To avoid “greenwashing”, the Standard requires bond issuers to select eligible green projects, according to sector eligibility criteria. The sector criteria include:

Solar energy
Wind energy
Low-carbon buildings
Low-carbon transport
Geothermal energy
Water infrastructure
Forestry
Waste management
Marine renewable energy
Bioenergy
Agriculture
Protected agriculture
Land conservation and restoration

The Scheme provides various types of certification. It involves pre-issuance certification, post-issuance certification, ongoing certification and programmatic certification.

SGS Verification Service

SGS is a CBI-approved verifier of the Scheme, enabling us to deliver the verification service worldwide.

We verify your bond in accordance with:

CBI Climate Bonds Standard
International Assurance Engagements ISAE 3000 - Assurance Engagements other than Audits or Reviews of Historical Financial Information
Agreed procedures (only applicable for pre-issuance assurance)

SGS Verification Process

1. Issuer	→	2. SGS	→	3. Issuer	→	4. SGS	→	5. Issuer
Submit Green Bond Framework & project list		Review information, devise verification plan & send other information submission requests		Follow-up other information submission request		Conduct interview & review information Develop report		Apply for certification & submit report to CBI