The economic stress arising from the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic propelled expansion of sovereign sustainable bond issuances. The Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI) reports that the number of sovereign green, social, and sustainable bonds more than doubled in 2020. By the end of the year, sovereign green bonds amounted to $41 billion, or a 65 percent increase over 2019. That trend continued into 2021, with Italy raising approximately $10 billion in Europe’s largest green bond debut to date. Other advanced and emerging markets also intend to issue sovereign green bonds.