EBRD issues $250 million “Green Bond”
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development bond will support energy efficiency, clean energy, water and waste management, sustainable public transport and other key areas of the Green Project Portfolio
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has issued a US$ 250 million bond, aimed specifically at institutional investors seeking to support environmentally sustainable projects.
The Bank will use the proceeds from the bond for investment in its Green Project Portfolio. This portfolio comprises financing for such areas as energy efficiency, clean energy, water management, waste management, sustainable living, environmental services and sustainable public transport.
Morgan Stanley and Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB were joint lead managers in the issue.
The EBRD first started issuing green bonds in 2010, and its portfolios of green projects currently comprise 261 investments, with an average term of 10 years, and worth a total of €2.7 billion based on operating assets. The portfolio represents a selected number of projects, in respect of which all, or substantially all, amounts disbursed are directed at environmental goals.
The Bank places a very high priority on investments in sustainable energy, financing energy efficiency projects as well as making investments in renewable energy, in a drive to boost competitiveness of economies in the region and to mitigate the impact of climate change.
It has invested over €11 billion in over 600 projects under its Sustainable Energy Initiative (SEI) that was launched in 2006.
Earlier in 2013, the SEI was expanded into the Sustainable Resource Initiative, which promotes efficiency in water and other materials, such as waste.
This latest transaction was targeted at socially responsible investors who place a high priority on ethical and environmentally and socially conscious funding.
Fourteen investors participated in the bond; 51 per cent of the funds were placed with US accounts, 31 per cent with European accounts, and eighteen per cent with Asian accounts. The sector allocation was as follows: 64 per cent to pension funds, 18 per cent to central banks, 12 per cent to asset managers, four per cent to state-related investors, and less than one per cent to bank treasuries and foundations.
