When issuing a Green Bond, it is recommended that the issuer provides a "use of proceeds", "prior provision of information regarding project evaluation and selection process to investors", "management of proceeds", and "disclose" such information. It is also recommended that an external review of these measures is used if an objective evaluation is required.

❺ External Review

It is recommended that issuers utilize an external review in case that they need an objective assessment of the framework for Green Bonds. There are two types of Green Bond reviews: reviews before the issuance and reviews after the issuance. It is common to provide an external assessment of the appropriateness of the project in light of Green Bond Guidelines, etc. before the issuance, and to provide an external assessment of the management of proceeds and the effectiveness of its environmental improvements after the issuance. Obtained these external reviews, issuers should disclose this information to the public.

External reviews have many different names such as "Consultant review", "Verification", "Certification", and "Rating", and even if the names are the same, cases where the items to be evaluated and the evaluation criteria can be different. In order to facilitate the understanding of stakeholders who use the review, it is desirable that the external body granting the review should clearly indicate in the documents and other documents related to the results of the review which matters have been evaluated and against which evaluation criteria.

Examples of contents that can be externally reviewed

❶Reviews before the issuance of Green Bonds
Content of evaluation Target Evaluation criteria
The evaluation of the appropriateness of Green Projects to which the proceeds will be allocated. ○ Our evaluation criteria
The evaluation of the appropriateness of the determination criteria and the appropriateness of the criteria-based determination process. ○ Our evaluation criteria
The evaluation of the appropriateness of specific methods to track and manage the proceeds from Green Bonds.
The evaluation of the appropriateness of the expected environmental benefits (or actual environmental benefits in the case of refinancing) of Green Projects (including the appropriateness of the methods for calculating environmental benefits and preconditions for the calculation). ○ Our evaluation criteria
❷Reviews after the issuance of Green Bonds
Content of evaluation Target Evaluation criteria
The evaluation of whether the management of the Green Bond proceeds and the allocation of the proceeds to Green Projects were executed properly by using the methods specified by the issuer before the issuance of the Green Bond.    
The evaluation of whether the Green Projects to which the Green Bond proceeds were allocated have actual environmental benefits and if they were calculated properly by using the methods specified by the issuer before the issuance of Green Bonds.