The handbook sets out detailed, accessible, practical steps involved in sustainable bonds issuance and discusses the associated tasks and activities so as to provide South African municipalities with a comprehensive view of the process entailed in the preparation, issuance and management of a sustainable bond. It seeks to explore key elements of the instrument and to provide balanced information so South African municipalities – and others – can determine whether a sustainable bond is a suitable tool for their organization. The handbook also contains introductory material concerning sustainable bonds, so readers can familiarize themselves with the terminology, context, purpose and considerations related to these instruments.

Sustainable bonds, as used in this handbook, is a collective term for one or all typical use of proceeds financial instruments that are labelled “green”, “environmental”, “social” or “sustainability” in terms of market-accepted practices for these labels. In other words, “sustainable bonds” is used here as a convenient shorthand for “green, social and/or sustainability bond” throughout.

The handbook has been developed with support from the UNDP-UNEP Poverty-Environment Action for Sustainable Development Goals, and the International Climate Initiative (IKI) project, Green Economy Transformation, implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), UNEP on behalf of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV), in cooperation with the South African Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, UNEP South Africa, and the Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE).