With the six largest issuers accounting for 80%, issuance was highly concentrated in H1 2026, led by the United Kingdom and France. Yet these major issuers still have a relatively low share of labelled bonds outstanding, while Chile stands out with its target of having 40-50% of its bonds in labelled format.
Looking ahead, around EUR 30bn of labelled bonds will mature by end-2027, with Germany, Hong Kong and Mexico the key markets to watch. As bonds mature they are typically refinanced through new issuance, giving investors an opportunity to engage with issuers.
The paper also examines refinancing dynamics for Use-of-Proceeds (UoP) bonds. The need for a recurring pipeline of green expenditures may bias large issuers towards refinancing their existing green budget rather than mobilising additional, long-term capital for transition investment. Meanwhile, smaller issuers face the opposite challenge if they don’t have enough eligible expenditures to sustain rollovers. Sustainability-Linked Bonds could address some of these issues.
