BLUE-green Bonds Framework following ICMA

Grasshopper Investments develops “Green & Blue Bonds Framework” in line with ICMA for water projects

The market for Green Bonds is growing rapidly – yet one area remains significantly underrepresented so far: water. At the same time, access to clean water is not only an environmental and climate issue, but a foundation for health, social development, and economic stability.

Grasshopper Investments is therefore working on a Green & Blue Bond Framework in accordance with the ICMA Green Bond Principles, specifically designed for water projects with a clear climate impact. The goal is to enable investments in water infrastructure and decentralized safe-water solutions in a structured, transparent, and impact-oriented manner.

The focus is on two project approaches:

Central water infrastructure: Technological equipment and modernization of water treatment plants and drinking water infrastructure, excluding major construction works, in order to increase efficiency and water quality.
Decentralized safe-water concept: Designed under the water methodology of the Gold Standard for the Global Goals, with a clear climate impact and social co-benefits in rural regions, along with sophisticated impact monitoring.

The project pipeline currently comprises around €50 million, and an initial water-climate bond with a planned volume of €20 million is in the conceptual phase.

Why ICMA and a dedicated framework?

The International Capital Market Association (ICMA) https://www.icmagroup.org/ has established an internationally recognized standard for the issuance of Green Bonds with its Green Bond Principles. A Green & Blue Bonds Framework that complies with these principles creates transparency, comparability, and credibility for investors.

It defines:

Which projects are financed
How projects are selected and reviewed
How the use of proceeds is documented
How the effects and all impacts are measured over the entire term and how they are reported

With this approach, we contribute to ensuring that water – as one of the most pressing global challenges – secures a permanent place in the green bond market. Because sustainable water supply is not only an ecological imperative, but also a decisive lever for climate resilience, health, and social development worldwide.

Our Blue & Green Bonds Framework consistently translates the ICMA Principles into water-specific criteria. It clearly defines which water projects can be financed – ranging from centralized drinking water infrastructure to decentralized safe-water solutions – and how they are selected, structured, and monitored over their entire lifetime.

This creates a transparent framework that systematically links climate impact (“green”) with water-related impacts (“blue”).

The International Capital Market Association (ICMA) serves as the reference framework: its Green Bond Principles are the market standard for credible and comparable green bonds.

By aligning with ICMA, we ensure that our water projects are investable for institutional investors – with clear rules for project selection, use of proceeds, and reporting that facilitate external verification (Second Party Opinion) and integration into existing ESG and impact strategies.

Our BLUE-green Bonds Framework

ICMA-aligned, water- and climate-focused
Our Blue & Green Bonds Framework is aligned with the ICMA Green Bond Principles and tailored to water and climate projects in central public infrastructure, decentral safe-water solutions and selected private-sector applications.
Clear use-of-proceeds and exclusions
We define technology-only eligible project categories and robust eligibility criteria, while excluding construction-heavy activities, land and water-rights acquisitions, controversial sectors and projects in sanctioned countries.
Documented selection, due diligence and proceeds management
Project selection follows a transparent, ICMA-compliant process. Proceeds are tracked in segregated accounts or clearly separated internal ledgers; unallocated funds are held only in low-risk, liquid instruments.
Strong monitoring and impact reporting
We report both allocation and impact at project and portfolio level, covering indicators such as treated water volumes, people gaining access to safe drinking water, energy use, avoided greenhouse gas emissions and social “blue” co-benefits.
Digital Impact Tracker instead of static PDFs
A web-based Impact Tracker consolidates key data across all projects and maps contributions to SDGs and ICMA project categories – replacing static PDF reports with transparent, regularly updated, decision-useful information for investors.

Online Impact Tracker fpr Grasshopper Water Projects

Monitoring: Digital Impact Tracker

Our digital Impact Tracker is the core monitoring tool for our water-first, climate-relevant Blue-Green-Bond series. It has already been designed and will be published as a dedicated online interface – together with the Blue-Green-Bond Framework in PDF form – once the first bond of the series is offered to investors.

Central public water infrastructure (main focus)

For large-scale water infrastructure projects, the Tracker reports robust, quantitative KPIs, such as:

installed treatment and disinfection capacity (in MLD)
estimated population served and service continuity
compliance with drinking water standards and regulatory requirements
energy use and avoided greenhouse gas emissions
reductions in tanker water, packaged water and unnecessary household RO treatment

These metrics capture how our Blue-Green-Bond proceeds strengthen public water utilities and central water supply systems.

Decentralised safe-water concept (Gold Standard)

For decentralised projects, the Impact Tracker builds on the Gold Standard for the Global Goals. It uses continuously monitored and periodically verified data on:

households and people reached
litres of safe water delivered
savings in fuel and firewood and associated CO₂ reductions
additional co-benefits such as health, time savings, biodiversity and women’s empowerment

This ensures that decentralised projects are monitored according to one of the most demanding international standards for climate and development impact.

Selected private-sector projects (complementary focus)

In addition, the Tracker covers selected private-sector projects in health care, sustainable housing, mobility and industrial applications. Here we report concise, sector-specific indicators – for example people and facilities protected by safe water, reduced dependence on bottled water and point-of-use treatment, and improved compliance with water quality standards. These assets complement, but do not replace, the core focus on public water infrastructure and decentralised safe-water access.

Portfolio view and transparency

All data are consolidated at project and portfolio level, mapped to SDGs and ICMA categories, and made available through an online interface instead of static PDF reports. This gives investors decision-useful, comparable and regularly updated information – and shows in a very concrete way how capital deployed in our Blue-Green-Bonds turns into real-world water and climate impact.

Would you like to integrate measurable water and climate impact into your portfolio?

We would be happy to show you how our Blue & Green Bonds Framework fits into your investment strategy.