The Executive Committee of the Principles announces guidance for Climate Transition Bonds
6 November 2025 On the occasion of its Annual Conference, the Executive Committee of the Green, Social, Sustainability and Sustainability-Linked Bond Principles (the “Principles”), supported by the International Capital Market Association (ICMA), announces guidance for Climate Transition Bonds.
The Principles are the global standard for the $6 trillion sustainable bond market that represents the largest source of market finance dedicated to sustainability and climate transition, available internationally to corporates and financial institutions, supranationals, agencies and sovereigns.
Key publications and resources released today are:
- The Climate Transition Bond Guidelines (CTBG), which introduce the use of Climate Transition Bond (CTB) as a standalone label for use-of-proceeds bonds, based on a definition and safeguards for Climate Transition Projects, alongside a preliminary, non-exhaustive list of project categories.
Climate Transition Projects complement and typically go beyond the scope of the Green Bond Principles (GBP) in addressing today’s decarbonisation and emissions-reduction challenges, in pursuit of the goals of the Paris Agreement. The Guidelines also make recommendations for high-emission issuers of climate transition-themed Sustainability-Linked Bonds (SLBs). - The new edition of the Climate Transition Finance Handbook (CTFH) references the Climate Transition Bond Guidelines and includes a new annex on transition-plan frameworks, as well as tools and methodologies available to assess their credibility.
See the Mapping of the Principles for a holistic overview.
The 2025 Annual Conference of the Principles is being held in hybrid format in Tokyo on Thursday, 6 November, co-hosted by the Japan Securities Dealers Association (JSDA). The full-day conference agenda combines keynote speeches and panel discussions with leading official sector and market representatives. It features key updates on the 2025 guidance from the Principles and explores critical topics in sustainable finance from a global perspective, including transition finance, nature and social bonds, green-enabling guidance, market integrity and regulation.
