Holcim has committed to reach at least 40% of sustainable financing by 2024.
The building materials giant says the move puts climate action, water preservation and safety at the heart of its strategy.
The company recently completed two new sustainability-linked financing transactions worth above CHF3bn (€2.84bn). To scale up its impact, Holcim joined the UNGC CFO Taskforce alongside 60 companies representing a combined US$1.7 trillion in market capitalisation. The UNGC COF Taskforce aligns members’ finance strategies with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Holcim CFO Géraldine Picaud commented: “Walking the talk, we are putting climate, water and safety at the heart of our financing strategy. To make a bigger impact, I am delighted to be a member of the UNGC CFO Taskforce to move this agenda forward with my peers.”
Building on the company’s €850m sustainability-linked bond issued in November 2020, Holcim says it has just completed two further transactions. In August 2021, it refinanced a €3bn syndicated credit line linking it to climate and safety, two of its core sustainability indicators, in line with the UN SDGs 8 (“Decent Work & Economic Growth”) and 13 (“Climate Action”). The cost of the credit facility will depend on the company’s achievement of its annual targets in these areas.
In September 2021, Holcim placed a new ten-year US$100m sustainability-linked bond, based on its 2030 CO2 reduction target. Confirming the company’s leadership in sustainable finance, this issue represents the first private placement of a USD medium-term note linked to climate action. The investor will be entitled to a higher coupon should the company not meet its climate objective.
Holcim says its Sustainability-Linked Financing Framework is aligned with the company’s sustainability strategy. It started with CO2 reduction, in line with the company’s 2030 climate targets and updated with the full 2050 Net-Zero pathway endorsed by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Following Holcim’s nature-positive strategy launch, it also added “specific freshwater withdrawal” in its cement operations, aligned with SDG 6 (“Clean Water and Sanitation”). ISS ESG agency views the new water KPI as relevant and material to Holcim and will accordingly issue an updated second-party opinion in the course of the month.
