ING recently acted as structuring advisor and active bookrunner on the €850 million sustainability-linked bond (SLB) for LafargeHolcim.
The transaction represents a couple of firsts. It’s the first SLB for a company in the building materials industry and ING’s first SLB structuring mandate.
The target to be achieved is both relevant and validated to ensure its impact. The building materials company has pledged to reduce its CO2 intensity in cement, serving as an important example for the global cement industry that currently accounts for eight percent of total carbon emissions. And the target will be validated by the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi). The SBTi, a partnership between CDP, the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), helps companies set greenhouse gas emission reduction targets in line with climate science.
The transaction demonstrates ING’s commitment to supporting clients and society in working toward a low carbon economy as envisaged in the Paris Agreement on climate change.
In other areas as well, ING continues to build on its position as one of the top banks in Europe and globally when it comes to sustainable finance.
In the fourth quarter of 2020, we supported the issuance of four green bonds, three sustainability bonds, one sustainability-linked bond and one transition bond. ING also supported six sustainability improvement loans, three green loans and two green Schuldscheins, as well as two sustainable structured finance transactions.