how do i know if a green bond is actually green 
despite efforts like those of the climate bonds initiative there is no universally recognized standard for determining the environmental friendliness of a bond sometimes debt instruments may be marketed to investors as green even if their positive environmental impact is dubious at best examples of greenwashing making exaggerated or misleading ecological claims highlight the need for investors to carry out due diligence regarding potential green bond purchases in addition to the climate bonds initiative other companies provide assessments of bond issuers environmental claims including bloomberg l p rating agencies such as moody s and other specialized firms the bottom linegreen bonds are debt securities designed to finance environmentally friendly projects green bonds may offer tax advantages providing incentives for investing in sustainable projects that do not apply to comparable types of bonds investors seeking assets that align with their environmental values should be sure to verify the claims of sustainability made by bond issuers 