Gröna obligationer och det verkliga bidraget till hållbar utveckling - En kvalitativ studie om hur finansiering med gröna obligationer påverkar hållbarhetsarbetet i svenska fastighetsbolag

Abstract

This study investigates how a green bond issuance may affect the sustainability activities within a Swedish real estate company. The research question is based on a discussion of additionality in terms of sustainable development. The study has been carried out by using a qualitative method and includes a dataset of 12 semi-structured interviews with primarily CFOs within real estate companies in the Swedish market. We find that green bonds’ contribution to a sustainable development is ambiguous. However contradictory to previous studies we find stronger evidence that issuance of green bonds affect the behavior of the firm and tend to increase climate related investment through for example sustainability certifications of real estate. We also give alternative explanations to why some firms’ sustainability activities are not affected by a green bond issuance. We explain this with CSR literature. Furthermore we divide our conclusions of the effects on sustainability activities into direct and indirect additionality which contributes to a more nuanced discussion of additionality. Finally we use agency theory and the perspective on agency benefit of debt financing and connect it to the green bond issuance in an attempt to establish a new perspective on the green commitment after issuance and how it may contribute to sustainability. The findings are of importance since they contribute to a nuanced understanding of the effect that a green bond issuance may have on the sustainability activities within a company.