Challenges in Second Party Opinions for sustainable finance 

Sustainable finance is accelerating as investors, regulators, and stakeholders demand greater transparency and accountability around environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance. Instruments such as green bonds, social loans, and sustainability-linked financing are growing in popularity, but they must be backed by credible, independently verified claims.

Without transparency and third-party assurance, issuers risk accusations of greenwashing or social washing which could potentially damage their reputation and undermine stakeholder trust. 

How our Second Party Opinion services support you  

DNV’s Second Party Opinion (SPO) service provides independent, evidence-based assessments of financial instruments marketed as green, social, or sustainability-linked. An SPO verifies the alignment of your financing framework with internationally recognized standards such as: 

• International Capital Markets Association (ICMA):
  • Green Bond Principles (GBP).
  • Social Bond Principles (SBP).
  • Sustainability-Linked Bond Principles (SLBP).
• Loan Markets Association (LMA), Asia Pacific Loan Markets Association (APLMA), and Loan Syndications and Trading Association (LSTA):
  • Green Loan Principles (GLP). 
  • Social Loan Principles (SLP).
  • Sustainability-Linked Loan Principles (SLLP). 

DNV’s SPO services cover: 

• Green loans and bonds, including DNV’s role as an external reviewer for EU Green Bonds (EU gbs), as recognized by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). 
• Social loans and bonds.
• Sustainability-linked loans and bonds.
• Periodic reviews of frameworks and performance targets.

Also referred to as third-party verification, external review, external verification, or third-party audits, our SPO service supports full lifecycle assurance, from initial issuance to post-issuance updates and ongoing reviews.