Green Bonds – A catalyst for municipal action against climate change and the age-old problem of municipal fiscal capacity

Research paper by Sharath Voleti (December 2019) for upper-year Windsor Law Municipal Law course.

How then can an Ontario municipality raise funds to combat climate change? This paper will argue that green bonds are a pragmatic and realistic solution to address climate change. A green bond is a type of debenture “whose proceeds are earmarked for environmental or climate-related projects, such as public transit or low-carbon infrastructure investments.” Whereas previously, environmentally conscious investors had to research bonds and entities that did not explicitly cause environmental harm, green bonds allow individuals to seek out investments that actively help the environment. It will recommend that the Association of Municipalities Ontario (“AMO”) and the ONE Investment Program (“ONE”) work with municipalities to issue green bonds.

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