Newly released data from the Climate Bonds Initiative shows that California leads all other states on green bond issues that have closed, followed closely by New York State at $4.73 billion, Massachusetts at $2.83 billion, and Washington State at $1.9 billion, with Connecticut, Indiana, Colorado, Iowa, Illinois & Ohio all under $1 billion (Top 10 ranking below).
Issuer
|
Cumulative
Amount Issued (USDbn)
|
Top
10 Rank Nov 2017
|
California
|
5.03
|
1
|
New York
|
4.73
|
2
|
Massachusetts
|
2.83
|
3
|
Washington
|
1.97
|
4
|
Connecticut
|
0.83
|
5
|
Indiana
|
0.75
|
6
|
Colorado
|
0.62
|
7
|
Iowa
|
0.46
|
8
|
Illinois
|
0.37
|
9
|
Ohio
|
0.35
|
10
|
California green issuers ranges from large institutions such as the California Infrastructure Bank and the City of Los Angeles to school districts in Fremont and San Diego to the Mid-Peninsula Open Space District. The chart below shows the range of California issuers and the total of all green bonds they have issued. The prior CalGreenFinance post showed the individual issues and the general project descriptions (here).
California Cumulative Muni Green Bond Data Through Nov, 2017
|
Issuer
|
Total
All Issuances
|
|
State of California IBank
|
$860,735,000
|
|
City of Los Angeles
|
$739,740,000
|
|
San Francisco Public Utilities
Commission
|
$531,955,000
|
|
Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit
Authority
|
$471,395,000
|
|
California Health Facilities
Financing Authority
|
$408,390,000
|
|
Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART)
|
$384,735,000
|
|
State of California Treasurer's
Office
|
$300,000,000
|
|
East Bay Municipal Utility
District
|
$259,690,000
|
|
California Pollution Control
Financing Authority
|
$228,165,000
|
|
City and County of San Francisco
|
$171,405,000
|
|
Los Angeles County Sanitation
District
|
$170,265,000
|
|
San Diego Unified School District
|
$159,000,000
|
|
San Diego County Water Authority
|
$98,945,000
|
|
Santa Monica Public Finance
Authority
|
$68,565,000
|
|
Midpeninsula Open Space District
|
$57,410,000
|
|
Port of Los Angeles
|
$35,205,000
|
|
Fremont Union High School District
|
$31,170,000
|
|
City of Long Beach
|
$25,985,000
|
|
Trinity Public Utilities District
|
$20,835,000
|
|
City of Napa
|
$12,500,000
|
|
Total
|
$5,036,090,000
|
A growing number of California issuers have also followed international best practice in gaining Climate Bonds Certification for their green issuance, including Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), SFPUC and Los Angeles MTA.
 |
| California leads other state in green bond issues, but New York has issued more CBI Certified green bonds |
“California has long been a national standard bearer in areas ranging from advancing civil rights to protecting our natural resources," says State Treasurer John Chiang. "In that same vein, the State of California and its municipalities lead the U.S. in the use of green bonds, raising more than $5 billion in affordable capital to both curb climate change and build critical infrastructure. The achievement is laudable but not enough considering how the United States still lags behind Europe, Asia, and South America in taking advantage of climate-friendly green bonds to finance the conversion of a fossil-fuel based economy to a carbon-free alternative.”
 |
| State Treasurer John Chiang |
“I am working to change that equation by hosting a major green bonds symposium in February," says Treasurer Chiang. "I am assembling the nation’s foremost experts to come up with ways to turbocharge this innovative, new market, with an eye toward unlocking its latent potential to pay for billions of dollars in investments to protect our planet from global warming.”
More information on Treasurer Chiang's Green Bond Symposium can be found at: Green Bond Symposium
“Capital flows are moving in the right direction from diverse municipal issuers of every size across the state," said Justine Leigh-Bell, Director of Market Development for the Climate Bonds Initiative. The focus on water, energy and waste is very encouraging. The challenge now is to increase the number of green issuers across the state and encourage repeat issuance.”
“Capital flows are moving in the right direction from diverse municipal issuers of every size across the state," said Justine Leigh-Bell, Director of Market Development for the Climate Bonds Initiative. The focus on water, energy and waste is very encouraging. The challenge now is to increase the number of green issuers across the state and encourage repeat issuance.”
 |
| Justine Leigh-Bell of Climate Bonds Initiative |
“Our previous data at the end of Quarter 3 had New York State in front, but California has just nudged ahead to reach the landmark $5 billion figure for municipal green bonds," said Leigh-Bell. "The foundation is there to lead US states again and be first to reach $10 billion. We expect the State Treasurer’s February 2018 Green Bonds Symposium and Governor Brown’s Global Climate Action Summit later in 2018 will both provide sub national, national and international momentum around green investment to address climate change.”
