Indicators on sustainable finance

These indicators give an overview of issuances and holdings of sustainable debt securities in the euro area^[1]. They provide information on the proceeds raised to finance sustainable projects, and thus also on the progress of transition to a net-zero economy. They will bring greater transparency to the financial markets and are relevant for the inclusion of climate change considerations in designing and implementing the ECB’s monetary policy, as well as in analysing economic developments and financial stability.

Since November 2023, data on sustainable debt securities are published for two levels of assurance: i) instruments with a second party opinion (SPO) validating the sustainability claims of the issuer, and ii) all sustainable instruments, i.e. with all degrees of assurance, including only self-labelled instruments. Since September 2024, additional series have been added to the indicators, which are now published as official ESCB statistics.

This section covers the following:

• Issuances of sustainable debt securities in the euro area
• Holdings of sustainable debt securities in the euro area
• Issuances and holdings of green debt securities by country and sector
• Data access

Please consult the statistical paper and the technical annex for further details on the methodology, data sources and limitations.

Issuances of sustainable debt securities in the euro area

The outstanding amount of sustainable debt securities issued in the euro area has more than doubled in the last three years. Securities designed to finance green and social projects, which account for the majority of the sustainable debt securities market (Chart 1), have seen a particularly strong increase. Over the same period, sustainability-linked bonds recorded the highest growth rate. Most sustainable debt securities issued by euro area residents have received an SPO validating the sustainability claims of the issuer. This is true for virtually all green debt securities issued in the euro area. However, the relevance of these instruments in the overall debt securities market is still small (Chart 1).

Holdings of sustainable debt securities in the euro area

Since the beginning of 2021 euro area holdings of sustainable debt securities have grown continuously, similar to the trend observed for euro area issuances of these securities. These debt instruments are becoming increasingly relevant investment alternatives but overall remain a minor portfolio item (Chart 2). Euro area investors seem to prefer sustainable debt securities issued in the euro area and the euro area as a whole is a net buyer of these instruments – indeed, total , holdings of these instruments exceed the volume of issuances. Furthermore, most of the sustainable bonds held by euro area investors have obtained an SPO, although the proportion of euro area sustainable debt security holdings with an SPO validation is less than that for issuances.

Issuances and holdings of green debt securities by country and sector

France and Germany are the top issuers and holders of green debt securities in the euro area, accounting for more than half of the market in these instruments (Chart 3 and Chart 4). The Netherlands is the third-largest issuer and Luxembourg the third-largest holder. The remaining euro area countries account for a small share of both green bond issuances and holdings, with some countries having only recently entered the market or being yet to enter. This is equally true for green debt securities with an SPO.

Governments, monetary financial institutions and non-financial corporations lead the way in the issuance of green debt securities in the euro area (Chart 5). Virtually all green bonds issued by euro area governments have obtained an SPO, highlighting the importance of meeting the growing market demand for independent external reviews of the alignment of labelled green bonds with international standards and of the expected contribution of the financed projects to climate outcomes. Likewise, most green bonds issued by other sectors have obtained an SPO. With regard to holdings of green debt securities by euro area residents, investment funds are the main market players, followed by insurance corporations and pension funds, together with central banks. The remaining sectors play a very residual role, with households entering the green debt market only indirectly, through investment funds. As is the case with issuances, most green bonds held across all sectors have an SPO.

Data access

The aggregated data for the sustainable finance indicators are published on the ECB Data Portal as part of the CSDB-Derived Securities Issues Statistics (CSEC) and the Securities Holdings Statistics (SHSS) datasets.

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