With the goal of capacity building for local authorities, regional online training was provided by the Climate Bond Initiative.

The first module of the Green Debt Instrument modular training for the Western Balkans region was held to train 30 public authorities from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, and North Macedonia with focus on green debt instruments, specifically green bonds. The learning objectives were: (i) to understand the role of green, social, sustainability, sustainability-linked and transition (GSS+) bonds in shifting financial markets to more sustainable approaches while providing an overview of what attracts investors and issuers to the GSS+ bond market; (ii) to understand the use-of-proceeds bond issuance process, the market’s infrastructure elements, evolution, and current status.

Empowering local authorities with an understanding of the foundational concepts and practical elements of sustainable finance will not only be crucial for their transition domestically, but it will also foster regional cooperation and upsurge in capital flows amongst Western Balkans as a region and between them and the European Union.