China Looks to Boost Green Bond Market Credibility

China has appointed 18 firms, including PwC, EY and Morningstar’s China units, with the responsibility of evaluating and certifying green bonds to help prevent greenwashing. These firms will look to help create self-discipline in the green bond market, strengthen industry norms around green bond evaluation and certification, and ultimately help prevent greenwashing. China’s Green Bond Standards Committee, a regulatory body under the National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors (NAFMII) said the firms will also “help the market better identify green economic activities, guide funds to be accurately invested in green fields, and play the role of ‘gatekeeper’ in the green bond market”. The firms will collaborate to standardise the green bond evaluation and certification process and work together to promote the high-quality development of the green bond market. Each firm must undertake a self-inspection of its green bond evaluation and certification business at least once a year, and report the findings to the committee in writing by 31 March each year. In July, the Committee released domestically unified Green Bond Principles, which more closely align with international green finance standards. 

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