Legal & Regulatory News

International Organisation for Standardisation publishes new series of standards to provide a roadmap for issuing green bonds and originating green loans

On 14 September 2021, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) published a new series of standards for the green finance market (the ISO Standards). The ISO Standards, which were developed by a working party of industry experts including the LMA, provide an internationally applicable framework for issuing green bonds and originating green loans.

Use of the ISO Standards is intended to mitigate the risk of greenwashing in relation to green finance products and, in turn, improve transparency and market confidence in these products. The four parts of the ISO Standards are as follows:

• ISO 14030-1, Environmental performance evaluation – Green debt instruments – Part 1: Process for green bonds
• ISO 14030-2, Environmental performance evaluation – Green debt instruments – Part 2: Process for green loans
• ISO 14030-3, Environmental performance evaluation – Green debt instruments – Part 3: Taxonomy (under development)
• ISO 14030-4, Environmental performance evaluation – Green debt instruments – Part 4: Verification programme requirements

Click here to access the press release and ISO Standards.