2018 saw the global issuance of green bonds at $167.7 billion, according to the Climate Bonds Initiative. By that year, the labelled bond market had also started expanding beyond green bonds to include sustainability and social bonds. However, sustainability bond issuance totalled a mere $21 billion in 2018, and that of social bonds $14.2 billion.
While Sweden is a key player in the green bond market, there has been only limited development of either pure social bonds or sustainable bonds mixing environmental and social goals. At the same time, however, segregation and socio-economic inequality have been highlighted as growing problems in Sweden, and municipalities have started showing an increasing interest in enhancing socio-economically inclusive suburbs by incorporating features such as energy efficient housing, transport systems, and digitalization.