Canadian real estate investor Ivanhoé Cambridge has linked C$8.5bn (£4.9bn) of its term loans and credit lines to its environmental, social and governance performance.
The company is now tying its borrowing to key performance indicators including low-carbon investments, the carbon intensity of its portfolio and the GRESB score of its real estate portfolio.
Depending on its performance, Ivanhoé Cambridge will see the terms of its borrowing change, including penalties for not hitting targets. The company aims to achieve carbon neutrality for its entire portfolio by 2040.
The ESG financing has been agreed with the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, as well as 11 banks in North America and Europe: Bank of Montreal; BNP Paribas; Citi; Crédit Agricole; Desjardins; National Bank of Canada; Natixis; Royal Bank of Canada; Scotiabank; Toronto-Dominion Bank; and Wells Fargo.
“This initiative enables us to intensify and consolidate our relationships with our financial partners by demonstrating our ability to innovate in terms of sustainable financing,” said chief financial and business performance officer Simon Lauzier. “This is in addition to the C$1.5bn in green financing we have deployed over the past four years through a wide range of instruments.”
Stéphane Villemain, the company’s vice-president for corporate social responsibility, said: “We are convinced that sustainable investments are profitable over the long-term, and we are committed to combining our environmental performance with the continuous improvement of our financing terms.”
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