Green Bonds: New Label, Same Projects

Abstract

NBER WORKING PAPER SERIES GREEN BONDS: NEW LABEL, SAME PROJECTS Pauline Lam Jeffrey Wurgler Working Paper 32960 http://www.nber.org/papers/w32960 NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH 1050 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138 September 2024 We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research. NBER working papers are circulated for discussion and comment purposes. They have not been peer-reviewed or been subject to the review by the NBER Board of Directors that accompanies official NBER publications. © 2024 by Pauline Lam and Jeffrey Wurgler. All rights reserved. Short sections of text, not to exceed two paragraphs, may be quoted without explicit permission provided that full credit, including © notice, is given to the source. Green Bonds: New Label, Same Projects Pauline Lam and Jeffrey Wurgler NBER Working Paper No. 32960 September 2024 JEL No. G10, G32, Q50 ABSTRACT Green finance emphasizes “additionality,” meaning funded projects should offer distinct environmental benefits beyond standard practice. Analysis of U.S. corporate and municipal green bonds, however, indicates that the vast majority of green bond proceeds is used for refinancing ordinary debt, continuing ongoing projects, or initiating projects without green aspects that are novel for the issuer. Only 2% of corporate and municipal …

Source: pdf_first_chars