Achieving the first green bond

In 2018, the Volkswagen Group became the first car manufacturer to commit to the Paris climate targets. The Volkswagen Group wrote this promise into its "goTOzero" mission statement in 2019, aiming to be as environmentally friendly as possible and to become climate-neutral by 2050. One of the company's main goals is to reduce CO2 levels within production and across its fleet of vehicles by 30 percent by 2030 (compared to 2015 levels).

Becoming one of the world's leading providers of sustainable mobility necessitates significant investment. By establishing the Green Finance Framework, Volkswagen has decided to focus more on sustainable forms of financing (such as green bonds) in its financing strategy as well as its investment plan. For first-time issuers, issuing green bonds is particularly fraught with challenges, such as the use of proceeds for a specific purpose, as the requirements differ from a traditional bond issue in certain respects.

Another aspect to consider was that the sustainability activities of the automotive sector in general, and Volkswagen in particular, have been under close public scrutiny since the diesel scandal. It was therefore clear to the Treasury and the Group that the Green Finance Framework needed to be drawn up very carefully.

To achieve this, they needed a banking partner capable of making these specific expectations transparent and fulfilling them. During discussions with experts from the bank, it quickly became evident that establishing a framework would not be a purely financial issue – it should be broadly anchored across the Group, which is why the Accounting, Controlling, Legal and Sustainability departments were all closely involved in addition to the Treasury. Furthermore, external auditors were brought in to validate the quality of the data after the bond was issued.

This broad organisational approach was in line with the comprehensive Green Finance Framework. Volkswagen presented this binding framework for future green financing in March 2020. It covers forms of financing such as green bonds, green bonded loans, green private placements and green loans. It also defines the use of proceeds, the process for selecting and evaluating eligible projects, how proceeds are allocated and reporting. The sustainability agency Sustainalytics issued a second-party opinion, confirming that the Green Finance Framework complies with the ICMA Green Bond Principles and the LMA Green Loan Principles.

Following very positive feedback about the Green Finance Framework from investors over multiple call rounds, the first "green" VW bond was successfully placed in September 2020, with a total value of €2 billion in two terms of eight and twelve years, and coupon rates of 0.875 and 1.25 percent respectively. The proceeds will refinance pre-identified e-mobility projects.

Reaching this point was a learning process for everyone involved as there were many obstacles to overcome, but a lot of valuable knowledge was gained along the way. The external discussions between the Group and the bank were critical yet constructive, as they proved to be useful for realistically assessing expenditure and expectations.

Guest article by Julian Klar, Volkswagen AG Capital Markets and Kilian Gruen, ING Debt Capital Markets, 5 November 2021, FINANCE Magazin November/December 2021