EDF today announced that it has signed a bilateral agreement with ING for a €150 million Revolving Credit Facility with an interest rate that will be dependent on the company’s sustainability performance improvement, as assessed by Sustainalytics, an independent provider of environmental, social and corporate governance research and ratings.
Always at the forefront of responsible finance, this instrument, used for the first time under a bilateral credit facility, demonstrates EDF’s continuous efforts towards innovative financing solutions. More broadly, it clearly highlights the case for businesses’ use of funds toward investments which simultaneously lead to positive social and environmental impact.
The agreement complements the set of sustainable financing tools that EDF has been developing over the last few years. In particular, the Group has already financed 18 wind and solar projects with Green Bond proceeds. With four issuances totalling €4.5 billion dedicated to renewable power investments, EDF is a reference corporate issuer in the Green Bond market.
This agreement not only highlights the Group’s strong sustainability performance today, with Sustainalytics rating EDF as the leader within its peer group for 2016. It also shows EDF’s commitment to continuously improve that performance. Part of its CAP 2030 strategy, EDF’s sustainability roadmap has been designed to support the world Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris agreement with six EDF Corporate Social Responsibility goals targeting climate, fuel poverty, health and safety, energy efficiency, gender equality, biodiversity and dialogue with stakeholders.
Stéphane Tortajada, EDF’s Group Head of Finance & Investments, said: “EDF’s corporate responsibility commitments have been supporting our non-financial ratings. This innovative agreement with ING is another evidence that they now directly influence our financing conditions.”
Karien Van Gennip, CEO ING Bank France, said: “We believe that it is important to accelerate on sustainability and that companies that deliver today in this field are the winners of tomorrow. That is why sustainability is at the heart of our business strategy. Creating sustainability incentives in a financing structure is a clear innovation and demonstrates increased adoption of these beliefs in the market. ”
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