Sustainable finance instruments have invaluable importance for achieving SDGs and mitigation of the global climate change in particular. Despite significant market capitalization, there are some serious challenges for the further growth of this market such as blank spaces in legislation and lack of transparency in evaluation of the real impact of projects claimed to be sustainable and companies willing to borrow funds on this market, which confuses investors. This paper analyzes the current state and prospects of the global sustainable finance market and the institutional infrastructure supporting it. A brief overview of the national Russian sustainable finance market is included.