What are World Bank Outcome Bonds

World Bank's outcome bonds link investor returns to sustainable development project outcomes. World Bank bonds have been a highly effective vehicle to channel money from public and private investors worldwide to development projects in need of finance since the World Bank’s first bond issue in 1947. Since 2021, World Bank has issued three outcome bonds. These provided funding for a water purifier project in Vietnam (“Carbon Bond”), for a wildlife conservation project in South Africa (“Rhino Bond”), and for UNICEF to support its response to COVID-19 (“UNICEF Bond”). These bonds harness private capital and transfer project performance risk to investors, who are rewarded if the underlying activities are successful. While they make use of the World Bank’s existing bond issuance infrastructure, they allow the World Bank and its bond investors to support development projects in entirely new ways.