The global green bond market has experienced significant growth over the past 15 years and has now become well-established, mature and no longer niche, as well as offering a wide range of investment opportunities, according to a recent report.

Green bonds continue to dominate the sustainable bond market, which includes green, social and sustainability bonds, and they held a market share of 60% in 2024, up from 58% in the previous year, finds European asset manager Amundi’s 2024 Green Bond Impact Report.

The green bond market, as of December 31 2024 reached €2.22 trillion ( US$2.6 trillion ). The volume of new green bond issuance amounted to €442 billion in 2024, higher than the previous year.

The distribution of players has changed compared with previous years, with financial institutions and agencies in 2024 accounting for just 37% of emissions, compared with 46% in 2023. This decrease is explained by a larger share of utilities and supranational emissions.

Within the private issuer segment, the corporate green bonds issuance increased in 2024 compared with 2023 accounting for 35% of the green bond market size ( vs 31% in 2023 ).

The positive trend was driven by utilities companies, and a return of real estate to the green bond market. When looking at the utility sector, 71% of issuance in the euro market was labelled green, and 48% of the real estate sector.

On the contrary, the trend in issuance for financial institutions was slightly weaker than previous years. The largest issuers in the credit segment were Volkswagen, Electricité de France and Crédit Agricole.

Sovereign green bonds issuance were lower due to smaller amounts issued by Italy and France, and there was no issuance from Denmark, the Netherlands and Ireland in green bond format.

Supranational dynamism helped to offset this decline thanks to the large green bond issuances of the European Union and the Asian Development Bank. Germany’s state development bank KfW remained the largest issuer in the agency segment with more than €10 billion of new issuance during 2024.

The issuance of green bonds by new players in the international financial markets has brought increased diversity and dynamism. On February 15 2024, Romania, the report hightlights, marked a significant milestone by launching its inaugural green Eurobond with a 12-year maturity, attracting impressive interest from investors.

Australia also made its debut in the green bond market by issuing a US$7 billion green bond. Similarly, the Dominican Republic raised US$750 million with its first green bond, which was heavily oversubscribed. Iceland and Qatar followed this trend by issuing their first-ever green bonds.

These initiatives demonstrate a growing commitment to sustainable financing worldwide, paving the way for new ecological projects and a greener economy.

Euro-denominated issuance dominant

Europe remains the green bond issuance leader, with a 55% market share of the global market in 2024. Among European countries, Germany is the No 1 issuer with €49 billion, closely followed by France with €41 billion. Netherlands ( €21 billion ), Italy ( €17 billion ) and Spain ( €12 billion ) followed the positive trend.

In the same positive trend, Japan continued to move up in the rankings by greatly increasing its green bond issuance in 2024. In contrast, there was a slowdown in green bonds issued by US companies.

The green bond market is dominated by euro-denominated issuance, accounting for more than 55% of the global green market. This reflects Europe’s leading role in the fight against climate change.

Euro-denominated issuance, as of end-December 2024, the report details, accounted for 26% of total government-related issuance. On the corporate side, the share of euro-denominated emissions has slightly decreased, now accounting for 19% of total corporate emissions compared with 22% in 2023.

Amundi strategies

Highlights of Amundi’s 2024 green bond strategies listed in the report are:

• €5.5 billion invested in green bond strategies.
• 2,400-plus green, social and sustainability bonds analyzed in the asset manager’s database.
• Average of 322 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions avoided per €1 million invested across the company’s three open-ended funds.
• Main projects financed include renewable energy, green buildings, clean transport, energy efficiency, and sustainable land and water use.
• All funds are SFDR Article 9 and carry demanding labels, such as Greenfin ( France ) and Towards Sustainability ( Belgium ).

Alban de Faÿ, Amundi’s head of sustainable responsible investment processes for fixed income, adds: “With our green bond funds, we aim to finance the energy transition by investing in green bonds with positive and measurable impact on the environment and delivering returns throughout the different economic cycles.”