CDP is advancing climate action from municipal bond issuers and investors through transparency and disclosure.

The climate crisis presents significant financial and physical risks to local and state governments and the public entities that manage much of the infrastructure around us. They must adapt in order to reach their sustainability goals and thrive in the future, but this will require significant funding.

The US municipal market and other sub-sovereign debt markets are fundamental to closing the sustainable infrastructure financing gap and minimizing the inherent physical and transition risks faced by local governments and public entities. CDP operates the world’s largest disclosure program and provides comparable and standardized environmental data as municipalities, public entities and the private sector measure and manage their climate action.

To build momentum on voluntary disclosure and drive even further action at this crucial juncture in the climate crisis, CDP has launched the Municipal Disclosure Campaign to enable municipal bond investors and other capital markets actors relevant to the public finance space to join engagement efforts.

The capital markets are critical in supporting municipal bond issuers like cities, states and public entities in starting and expanding their climate journeys and economic transformations.

The CDP Municipal Disclosure Campaign is open to all CDP capital market signatories.

How does the campaign work?

North American local governments and public entities are being requested by CDP, on behalf of capital market signatories, to complete Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosure (TCFD)-aligned environmental disclosures.

This is an exciting opportunity to collectively leverage the capital markets’ influence to communicate and endorse transparency and subsequent climate action across the asset class. With support from capital market signatories, CDP will continue addressing the market gap in the availability of standardized municipal issuer environmental data through centralized voluntary disclosure.

Public entities are encouraged to work toward having comprehensive emissions inventories, setting science-based targets, publishing climate action plans, completing climate risk and vulnerability assessments, maintaining climate adaptation plans to demonstrate how they will tackle climate hazards and addressing water security to ensure long-term water supply for residents.

The municipal disclosure request drives the collection of valuable data on how municipal governments are confronting the climate crisis.