Mirova's Felipe Gordillo and Louis Wuyam: Gender bonds as a tool to reduce gender inequality

'Urgent to take action'

The social bond market is now struggling to grow after having reached record issuance levels on the back of the Covid pandemic.

Some $220bn of social bonds were issued in 2021, a figure that dropped to just $152bn in 2023. An analysis of the social bonds registered in Mirova's database and a comparison between those issued by private entities and by public entities shows that most of the programmes financed by the private sector concern social housing, home purchase assistance and support for small and medium sized enterprises. Those issued by governments and government agencies, on the other hand, prioritise the financing of public services such as education and healthcare projects. In both cases, the soci...