A boot camp on the green bonds market was facilitated by the Climate Bonds Initiative, with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Asia LEDS Partnership (ALP) Secretariat (hosted by ICLEI South Asia), on the 19th and 20th of November 2019 in New Delhi, India.

The boot camp convened 15 city and state government authorities and other stakeholders including the Bombay Stock Exchange, CRISIL, KPMG and the Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy.

The interactive and technical programme was a good learning experience for participants who benefitted from the examples and insights shared by peers, rating agencies, merchant bankers, financing experts and practitioners on the end-to-end process of issuing green bonds, and their financial and non-financial benefits. There was also feedback on barriers and handholding needs that needed to be addressed for enabling further action. Green Bonds were presented as a financial instrument that would help achieve SDGs and meet NDC commitments.

Some of the key enablers that were discussed include provision of end-to-end technical support to enable city authorities to float and issue green bonds; create a platform for sharing information between investors and city agencies; create or repurpose Special Purpose Vehicles to facilitate uptake of bonds; and establish guidelines and incentives to encourage responsible debt uptake.