Asian Development Bank

Promoting Social Bonds for Impact Investments in Asia Asian Development Bank

This report reviews the social bond market and explores how social bonds can help tackle a wide range of development issues in Asia and the Pacific.




The social bond market has grown rapidly amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. This report explores ways of maximizing the impact of social bonds for sustainable development and of supporting a well-functioning social bond market. It analyzes the impact areas that social bonds have addressed to date and introduces the impact measurement techniques that are in use and under development. It notes the need for common standards of information disclosure and impact measurement.