European ESG bond and loan issuance in 2021 has so far reached €498.9bn above the total for all of 2020 of €388.7bn, says the Association for Financial Markets in Europe.

However, Q3 issuance decelerated compared to Q2 2021 driven by lower origination, seasonal factors and the finalisation of the EU SURE scheme. The AFME report also found that global ESG funds slightly decreased during Q3 2021 with funds with an ESG mandate (including mutual funds and ETFs) totalling $4.87tn as of Q3, a $0.9bn decrease from $4.96tn in Q2 2021 and a $1.26tn increase from $3.7tn in Q3 2020.

ESG equity funds continue to be by far the largest fund asset class with 52% of total ESG funds and over twice as large than fixed income which represents 21% of the total.