Sustainable Development
Green bonds and Sustainability linked bonds: markets like "green" finance
In September, in Italy, the value of emissions exceeded 7 billion euros, but in manufacturing/construction there are only Webuild and Fabbrica Italiana Sintetici
The list of companies resorting to the market to raise financing under the banner of sustainability is getting longer, operations opened in January by Webuild and Snam, and which have since also seen Enel, Fs, Credem, Fabbrica Italiana Sintetici, Cdp, Banco Bpm and A2A take the field for a total collection that has already exceeded 7 billion euros as of mid-September.
Some operations involve the issuance of so-called Green Bonds (Banco Bpm, Credem, Fs, A2A) bonds with which projects with a positive impact on the environment are financed. For example, SBB has stated that it will buy new trains for Trenitalia and will also use these resources for investment in high-speed lines.
In other cases, these are Sustainability Linked Bonds, with which there is no focus on a specific project: the funding is used to achieve sustainability goals within a commitment-frame (Framework) that has been made by the issuer. Whether or not ESG commitments - environmental, social, and governance - are met then goes to affect the cost of financing.
Worldwide, Sustainability Linked Bonds run more than Green Bonds
This trend mirrors the trend, globally, as a recent analysis by international law firm notes that Green Bonds remain the dominant sustainable bond category, but have seen the fastest growth, increasing tenfold from $11 billion in 2020 to $110 billion in 2021 and continuing to grow in 2022, with $26 billion raised globally in the first quarter and $27 billion in the second quarter, surpassing the first-half total in 2021 at $42 billion. Europe dominates the market with more than half of all Sustainability Linked issues, making it the largest sustainable bond market in the world.
Aziende manifatturiere ancora timide – Webuild è l’unica grande impresa andata sul mercato
In Italy, mainly issuers in the service sector such as finance, utilities and transportation use this form of financing, while Webuild so far is the only large company (Fabbrica Italiana Sintetici has a turnover of about half a billion euros) that is part of the manufacturing/construction sector. Around the world, the numbers are different: financial services and utilities-again Linklaters says -account for 30 percent of all Sustainability Linked emissions, while the manufacturing and construction sectors come in at nearly 50 percent, indicating how companies in a wide range of sectors are using this tool to finance their path to energy transition.
Webuild's bond issue took place in early 2022. It marked the group's debut in this segment with the (against a demand of €900 million). Webuild has committed to a 50 percent reduction by 2025 in carbon dioxide emissions generated by the group, but also from energy purchased to meet electricity consumption (Scope 1 & 2), contributing to two Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations: SDG 9 and 13. The action plan, which is included in includes four lines of action: the main one (55 percent) is a massive use of renewable energy.
