Financing Community Resilience and Green Infrastructure in Atlanta with an Environmental Impact Bond

The City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management (DWM) closed the first-ever Environmental Impact Bond to be issued through a public offering on January 31, 2019, with support from technical advisor Quantified Ventures, underwriter Neighborly Securities, and the Rockefeller Foundation. The $14 million bond will finance green infrastructure projects to manage stormwater in economically and environmentally distressed neighborhoods that previously lacked access to funding. The EIB represents a novel approach to finance high-impact resilience projects in the U.S., and Atlanta’s featured several innovations that may continue to improve the broader appeal and marketability of this type of financing. Through the EIB, DWM will evaluate the impact of green infrastructure on vulnerable neighborhoods to help the City better understand how it can best mitigate growing stormwater challenges while meeting the needs of local communities.