TY - JOUR
T1 - Policy targets behind green bonds for renewable energy
T2 - Do climate commitments matter?
AU - Tolliver, Clarence
AU - Keeley, Alexander Ryota
AU - Managi, Shunsuke
N1 - Funding Information:
This research is supported by the following Grant in Aid from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in Japan (MEXT): Grant in Aid (20H00648), Ministry of Environment, Japan (1-2001). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the agencies.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2020/8
Y1 - 2020/8
N2 - Green bond markets are expanding precipitously and proceeds are increasingly being allocated to renewable energy. There is a gap in the empirical literature on the policies affecting green bond finance for the renewable energy assets critical to achieving Paris Agreement emissions reduction targets. To assess the impact that Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement have on green bond finance for renewable energy, this study employed a difference-in-differences (DiD) analysis using an original panel dataset of $25 billion in green bond proceeds allocations in 66 countries between 2008 and 2017. An original normalized index of NDC robustness was constructed to measure unique NDC impacts on green bond disbursements to renewable energy. The results are the first to show that in the years following their submission in 2015, comparatively stringent NDCs demonstrated large positive impacts on green bond allocations to renewable energy with 99% statistical significance. These findings suggest that beyond conventional economic policy supports, climate commitments can drive global emissions reductions by inciting greater green bond finance for the renewable energy projects vital to achieving emissions reduction targets.
AB - Green bond markets are expanding precipitously and proceeds are increasingly being allocated to renewable energy. There is a gap in the empirical literature on the policies affecting green bond finance for the renewable energy assets critical to achieving Paris Agreement emissions reduction targets. To assess the impact that Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement have on green bond finance for renewable energy, this study employed a difference-in-differences (DiD) analysis using an original panel dataset of $25 billion in green bond proceeds allocations in 66 countries between 2008 and 2017. An original normalized index of NDC robustness was constructed to measure unique NDC impacts on green bond disbursements to renewable energy. The results are the first to show that in the years following their submission in 2015, comparatively stringent NDCs demonstrated large positive impacts on green bond allocations to renewable energy with 99% statistical significance. These findings suggest that beyond conventional economic policy supports, climate commitments can drive global emissions reductions by inciting greater green bond finance for the renewable energy projects vital to achieving emissions reduction targets.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120051
DO - 10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120051
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85084811266
SN - 0040-1625
VL - 157
JO - Technological Forecasting and Social Change
JF - Technological Forecasting and Social Change
M1 - 120051
ER -
