Green bonds, sometimes referred to as ‘Climate bonds’, are fixed-income instruments intended to fund projects with a positive climate, societal or environmental impact. They offer a particularly attractive opportunity for investors seeing beyond profits and looking to back sustainable projects. In August 2023, KPMG Malta conducted a global survey to measure the extent by which EU and certain non-EU governments incentivise the issuance of green bonds through tax advantages.
The survey contains a high-level summary of the results, which reveal that out of 20 EU Member States that replied to the survey, only Luxembourg and The Netherlands have some tax advantages related to the issuance of green bonds. Out of 18 non-EU countries that answered the survey, only Brazil, Malaysia and Tunisia have similar advantages. Despite the urgency of climate change, it is clear that most governments are still lagging behind in offering tax advantages in this particular field. Taxation is and will remain a tool to influence the bottom line return on investments and we hope that governments will use this tool to spur change.
We thank all KPMG Member Firms who participated in this survey.
