ANZ helps create “world first” Green Borrowing Programme Kiwi firm
(21 August 2017 – New Zealand) ANZ Bank’s Sustainable Finance team has announced a partnership with New Zealand based Contact Energy Limited to assist in implementing its new Green Borrowing Programme.
The pair said in a statement that it was “a world first initiative which has seen NZ$1.8 billion of their debt certified as ‘green’.”
Contact which supplies electricity, LPG and natural gas to 560,000 customers, created the Programme to better support past and future renewable energy generation initiatives, while also providing debt investors and lenders access to a broad range of certified green debt instruments.
The debt instruments certified include all Contact’s committed bank facilities, commercial paper and retail bonds. All Contact’s USPP and wholesale bonds maturing after 2018 are also certified.
ANZ’s Head of Sustainable Finance, Katharine Tapley, said: “We are delighted to have assisted Contact with creation of this programme. Advancing environmental sustainability through our key clients is core to our purpose, and Contact’s approach is pioneering.
“This is an innovative solution which demonstrates a firm commitment to sustainability, helps fund low carbon activity and aligns with New Zealand’s commitments towards achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement. It’s a first, and we applaud them,” Tapley added.
Contact’s Head of Capital Markets and Tax, Louise Tong, said: “Businesses and capital markets both have an important role to play in the shift to a low carbon economy and our Green Borrowing Programme links these two elements together.
“With an available funding portfolio of over NZ$1.8 billion across a range of debt instruments, Contact’s Programme plays an important role in developing opportunities for lenders and investors globally who are seeking certified green investments in New Zealand,” Tong said.
According to a media release, the programme has been developed in alignment with the Green Bond Principles and also certified by the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI) under Climate Bonds Standard V2.1, with independent assurance provided by EY.
The first new transaction to be executed under the programme is a NZ$75 million Bank Facility with ANZ.
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