China eyes removing coal from green bond standards: report

China’s central bank has already revised the eligibility list, sources said.

Reuters reports that Chinese regulators are close to releasing new green bond standards that would exclude polluting fossil fuel projects from corporate financing.

China’s inclusion of “clean coal” in a 2015 central bank list of technologies eligible for green bonds has put the country at odds with global standards, a point of contention for some international investors and many environmental groups.

Two sources with direct knowledge of the situation say China’s central bank, which regulates financial institution debt issuance and whose 2015 guidelines were adopted by other market regulators, has already revised the eligibility list. One of the people said the list is due to be published later this month. The People’s Bank of China did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

Read the full report here.