March 2024 / VIDEO

Why is it important to measure the impact of a blue bond?

Blue bonds need to be evaluated with additional rigor to mitigate against bluewashing risks.

Tongai Kunorubwe, Head of ESG, Fixed Income, T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc.

Video Transcript

At T. Rowe Price, we believe that, like sustainable bonds, blue bonds—which are, of course, a subset of sustainable bonds—require an additional element of evaluation and rigor.

There are four elements that we believe are important to consider in the evaluation and analysis of blue bonds.

So, the first one is the sustainable investing profile of the issuer itself. And that's absolutely critical because you need to see congruence with the issuer’s ambition, its targets, its overall goals, and the actual blue bond that it's issuing. That's the first element.

The second element has to do with industry standards. And here we're looking for real ambition, best practice ambition, and alignment with industry standards.

And the third element has to do with bond credibility. And here, we are looking for clear evidence of ambition and credibility of the bond itself and the deployment of proceeds, and we're looking for it over the life of the bond.

The fourth and final element we'll talk about today is the post-issuance reporting. And here we are looking for very clear reporting around the actual distribution of capital into blue economy elements. And that's very important. In addition, we are looking for post-issuance impact reporting, and here we would like to see quantifiable, tangible evidence of that coming through over the life of the bond.

So, if you think about the four elements we've talked about and why we focus on them at T. Rowe, one of the things we believe they will help us do is identify and potentially mitigate against greenwashing.

In the blue bond sphere, this is known as bluewashing, and this refers to a scenario where a financial product potentially overstates its own sustainability impact and outcomes and/or the issuer overstates—again focused on the blue economy—its own sustainability ambitions, targets, and outcomes.

So at T. Rowe Price, we're very excited about the potential opportunity for the blue bond market. We look at the parallel for the green bond market, and of course, blue bonds are a subset of green bonds. But we've seen the green bond market go from a very nascent asset class 10 to 15 years ago to being well over USD 2 trillion,^*and that's on data out of the Climate Bonds Initiative.

DISCLOSURE

^*Source for size of the green bond market: Climate Bonds Initiative, as of December 31, 2022.

CFA® and Chartered Financial Analyst® are registered trademarks owned by CFA Institute.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

This material is being furnished for general informational and/or marketing purposes only. The material does not constitute or undertake to give advice of any nature, including fiduciary investment advice, nor is it intended to serve as the primary basis for an investment decision. Prospective investors are recommended to seek independent legal, financial and tax advice before making any investment decision. T. Rowe Price group of companies including T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. and/or its affiliates receive revenue from T. Rowe Price investment products and services. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. The value of an investment and any income from it can go down as well as up. Investors may get back less than the amount invested.

The material does not constitute a distribution, an offer, an invitation, a personal or general recommendation or solicitation to sell or buy any securities in any jurisdiction or to conduct any particular investment activity. The material has not been reviewed by any regulatory authority in any jurisdiction.

Information and opinions presented have been obtained or derived from sources believed to be reliable and current; however, we cannot guarantee the sources’ accuracy or completeness. There is no guarantee that any forecasts made will come to pass. The views contained herein are as of the date noted on the material and are subject to change without notice; these views may differ from those of other T. Rowe Price group companies and/or associates. Under no circumstances should the material, in whole or in part, be copied or redistributed without consent from T. Rowe Price.

The material is not intended for use by persons in jurisdictions which prohibit or restrict the distribution of the material and in certain countries the material is provided upon specific request. It is not intended for distribution to retail investors in any jurisdiction.