Affordable Housing Bonds Drive Record ESG Growth in Munis (1)

ESG is poised for another record-breaking year of new issuance in the $4 trillion municipal-bond market as state and local agencies look to Wall Street for help addressing the affordable housing crisis.

Sales of municipal bonds that are branded with a green, social or sustainability label are up 2.6% this year -- bucking the roughly 12% decline in the overall market, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Total ESG muni issuance could surpass last year’s record to reach over $60 billion by the end of 2022, per S&P Global Ratings projections released in February.

As skyrocketing rents and ...