Finance
EU’s Green Bonds Set to Preempt Rules That Will Govern Them
- Standards are expected to set new global market benchmark
- Push to issue debt to fund recovery could lead to greenwashing
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The European Union’s rush to finance its recovery from the pandemic means its first-ever green bonds may come before the standards meant to regulate them.
Until the bloc applies its so-called taxonomy for about 225 billion euros ($266 billion) worth of green debt and projects, the EU expects to use guidelines from the International Capital Markets Association and a second party when sales begin next year, said a senior European Commission official, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. Those existing rules are less stringent than the EU’s draft standards.