Press Release

Building on a continued effort to promote sustainable and responsible investment, Mayor Martin J. Walsh today announced a commitment of an additional $50 million towards the City of Boston's Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Investment Initiative. This commitment brings the City's total investment in the ESG Initiative to $200 million, which will be invested in the short-term fixed income securities (i.e. short-term bonds and notes) of companies that maintain strong corporate ESG practices. Mayor Walsh launched the ESG Investment Initiative last year with an initial commitment of $150 million to encourage sustainable investment policies in Boston.

The City also provided an update on last week's bond sale, in which Boston issued its first ever series of Green Bonds, which will fund energy efficiency projects, and Social Bonds, which will fund affordable housing projects. Based on the results of the sale, in which the City successfully issued green bonds with lower interest costs than their non-green counterparts, Boston believes it has shown the largest and most definitive pricing benefit to date for bonds carrying the green label. The City believes this is an important first step in demonstrating that there is more than a marketing advantage in selling green bonds.