Commonwealth Bank prices inaugural climate bond

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has priced its first climate bond, raising $650 million to fund a range of renewable and low-carbon projects in Australia.

The CBA Climate Bond has been certified by the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI), a not-for-profit organisation which aims to promote large-scale investment to deliver a global low-carbon economy. Proceeds from the issuance will fund 12 eligible Australian projects, including renewable energy generation through solar, wind and hydro power, energy-efficient buildings and low-carbon transport projects.

The bond is backed by more than $1 billion of domestic renewable and low-carbon projects that meet the CBI’s Climate Bond Standards. It will be reviewed regularly internally by the bank and by EY, the latter of whom will provide independent review against the CBI standards annually until the bond matures in February 2022.

“We are really pleased with the positive response from local and international investors,” said Commonwealth Bank Managing Director Debt Markets Simon Ling.

“Increasing investor awareness and sophistication will fuel demand for climate bonds, and based on the strong pipeline for renewable and low-carbon projects we expect to see this growth increase in the next five years in the Australian market.”

The CBA Climate Bond is the first direct issuance by the Commonwealth Bank of a certified climate bond and the third climate or green bond the bank has issued. All three issuances have received support from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), with the latest receiving a $100 million commitment from the corporation.

“We welcome the Commonwealth Bank’s issuance of this climate bond, which sets another important benchmark in Australia’s emerging green bond market,” said CEFC Debt Markets lead Richard Lovell.

“Clean energy assets are attracting increasing investor support, which is critical for the continued development of the clean energy sector, as it continues to prove its ability to deliver positive returns for investors at the same time as contributing to a reduction in Australia’s overall carbon emissions.”

The five-year transaction, offered in both fixed and floating rate tranches, provided investors with a return of 92 basis points above the relevant reference rates at the time of pricing. Commonwealth Bank acted as sole lead arranger for the transaction.