Documents for users of Climate Bonds Standard Version 3.0

The Climate Bonds Standard V3.0 was formally released on 11th December, 2019. The updated Standard is available in English. Other languages will be coming soon. 

General Brochure for Climate Bonds Certification Scheme

Certification Brochure
Compreendendo o Esquema de Certificação (Certification Brochure in Portuguese)

Quicklinks for Standard V3.0 

Climate Bonds Standard V3.0
Taxonomy
Sector Eligibility Criteria
Frequently Asked Questions - coming soon
Documents for Issuers
Climate Bond Information Form
Certification Application & Agreement (for bonds)
Certification Application & Agreement (for loans)
Certification Application & Agreement (for Programmatic Certification)
Approved Verifiers Directory
Certified Bonds Database
Update Report Template
Documents for Verifiers
Assurance Framework 2.0
Guidance for Verifiers 2.0
Pre-Issuance Certification Checklist
Post-Issuance Certification Checklist

Transition arrangements for the new Version

• The current Climate Bonds Standard V2.1 as utilised by issuers & verifiers will remain operative for new Certifications in parallel with Standard V3 till June 30, 2020 subject to Verifier and market readiness.
• Transactions already Certified under V2.1 can continue to use V2.1 for the duration of the bond, or issuers can choose to adopt Standard V3 for their ongoing reporting.  
• We welcome ongoing input from stakeholders on Standard V3 and we look forward to developing an enhanced V3.1 in the future. Further detail is available here.

Documents for users of Climate Bonds Standard Version 2.1

For Issuers

Before Issuance

Issuers need to complete and submit the following two documents to Apply for Certification of their debt instrument under the Climate Bonds Standard:

1. Climate Bond Information Form which is regularly updated by the issuer throughout the certification process.
2. Certification Application & Agreement is to be checked by the issuer’s legal department and signed by an authorised representative of the Issuer.

Issuers need to engage an Approved Verifier to undertake Pre-Issuance and Post-Issuance Verification and provide Verifier’s Reports to the Issuer. A public version of this Report will be made available here.

Annual Reporting after Issuance

After the bond has been issued, the Issuer needs to send to us annual updates of the bond's proceeds and its use. They can use this Annual Report Template to provide the required information.

For Verifiers

These documents below provide details on the role of Approved Verifiers in the Climate Bonds Standard & Certification Scheme.

Application Form to become Approved Verifier (available here)

Verifier Agreement (available here)

• The Verifier Applicant must submit a signed Agreement as part of the application

Assurance Framework (available in English: here and in Chinese: here)

• Describes the role of the Approved Verifier
• Defines the criteria used in the Approval of Verifiers
• Describes the ongoing oversight of Approved Verifiers

Guidance for Verifiers (available in English: here and in Chinese: here)

• Provides the assessment methodology and verification procedures that Approved Verifiers must use with the bond issuer
• Describes the approaches to managing conflicts of interest and impartiality of verifiers

ISAE 3000 Assurance Engagements other than Audits or Reviews of Historical Financial Information by IFAC ("International Federation of Accountants")

• International Standards on Assurance Engagements 3000 (ISAE 3000) available here

Annex C to the Guidance for Verifiers: Readiness Assessment Protocol (available here) 

• Presents potential Pre-Issuance agreed-upon procedures as well as an easy-to-use checklist for implementing these potential procedures.

Pre Issuance Verification Requirements (available here, and in Chinese here)

• Step-by-step checklist to the Climate Bonds Standard for use by Verifier during Pre-Issuance Verification

Post Issuance Verification Requirements (available here, and in Chinese here)

• Step-by-step checklist to the Climate Bonds Standard for use by Verifier during Post-Issuance Verification

Climate Bonds Standard

Climate Bonds Standard Version 2.1 (English ----- Chinese) includes a List of Debt Instruments (English ----- Chinese) that are eligible for Certification under the Climate Bonds Standard.

Previous versions of the Climate Bonds Standard are available here.

The Climate Bonds Standard uses a library of Sector-Specific Criteria to determine eligibility of projects and assets for Certification. 

Disclaimer: "The Climate Bonds Standard Board operates legally as an advisory committee of the Climate Bonds Initiative Board and oversees the development of the Climate Bonds Standard. Neither the Climate Bonds Standard Board nor any organisation, individual or other person forming part of, or representing, the Climate Bonds Standard Board (together, "CBSB") accepts or owes any duty, liability or responsibility of any kind whatsoever to any issuer which wishes to apply for any of its bonds to be certified under the Climate Bonds Certification Scheme ("Scheme"), or to any issuer whose bonds may at any time be certified under the Scheme or to any other person or body whatsoever, whether with respect to the award or withdrawal of any certification under the Scheme or otherwise. All advice or recommendations with respect to any certification under the Scheme or otherwise that CBSB provides to the Climate Bonds Initiative Board is provided to it in an advisory capacity only and is not to be treated as provided or offered to any other person”