ESG bond issuance: Taking stock at half-time

Research evidence excerpt

ESG bond issuance: Taking stock at half-time

FICC Research

Credit Research

23 July 2026

Sustainable Investing

ESG bond issuance: Taking stock

at half-time

ESG bond issuance reached nearly $600bn in H1 26, with

Sustainable Investing Research

activity in several market segments running ahead of our Charlotte Edwards, CFA(iii)

expectations. We have revised a number of our full-year +44 (0) 20 3134 0392 charlotte.edwards@barclays.com

forecasts and now expect total 2026 issuance of c.$975bn, Barclays, UK

which would represent the second-highest annual volume on SSA and Covered Bond Research

record. Cristina Costa(i)

+33 (0) 1 44583195

cristina.costa@barclays.com

ESG bond issuance reached c.$580bn in H1 2026, with corporate and developed market BBI, Paris

sovereign issuance running well ahead of expectations. Reflecting this momentum, we have

Securitised Researchrevised our full-year issuance forecasts higher for corporates, DM sovereigns and US munis,

Lea Overby(i)while modestly lowering our SSA and agency MBS forecasts. Overall, we expect ESG bond

+1 617 342 4293

issuance to total c.$975bn in 2026, making it the second-strongest year on record, surpassed lea.overby@barclays.com

only by 2021 (Figure 1). BCI, US

Elana Lipchak, CFA(i)

+1 212 526 9882

elana.lipchak@barclays.com

BCI, US

Pranava Boyidapu(i)

+44 (0) 20 7773 3163

pranava.boyidapu@barclays.com

Barclays, UK

This document is intended for institutional investors and is not subject to all of the

independence and disclosure standards applicable to debt research reports prepared for retail Municipals Research

investors under U.S. FINRA Rule 2242. Barclays trades the securities covered in this report for its Mikhail Foux(ii)

own account and on a discretionary basis on behalf of certain clients.