Adelaide Airport in Australia has signed a A$50m (US$35m) seven-year Sustainability Performance Linked Loan with the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), the first loan in Australia that incentivizes a borrower to further improve its performance against a set of environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria.
Adelaide Airport was recently ranked the number one airport in the world for the second year running in the 2018 Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark – an investor-driven organization that assesses the sustainability performance of real-estate portfolios and assets.
Mark Young, managing director, Adelaide Airport, said, “Creating an explicit link between our financing and long-term sustainability credentials – including risk management, governance, our culture, the value we place upon our people, and our relationships with our customers and stakeholders – is a key milestone for our business as we seek to further integrate sustainability within our day-to-day operations. As the gateway to South Australia, Adelaide Airport is a key piece of community infrastructure and an important contributor to the state’s economic success and we are proud to be contributing to the state’s growth in a sustainable way.”
Adelaide Airport was the first airport in Australia to achieve Level 3 (Optimization) under Airports Council International’s Airport Carbon Accreditation program and secured the Platinum award for waste reduction in the Airport Council International – Asia Pacific Green Airports Recognition 2018.
“Linking our financial arrangements to sustainability performance demonstrates our commitment to continuous improvement of our sustainability performance,” added Young. “The loan is structured as a revolving credit facility, with the sustainability performance component based on Sustainalytics’ ESG Risk Ratings, an assessment of a company’s exposure to financially material ESG risks. The loan will help Adelaide Airport continue to transition to a lower-carbon and more sustainable economy by linking its borrowing rate to its sustainability performance.”
Katharine Tapley, head of sustainable finance, ANZ, said, “Adelaide Airport’s strong commitment to continuously improving its sustainability performance makes it an ideal candidate for incentivized financing. We are pleased to have partnered with the airport team, bringing to life this landmark transaction which supports the transition to a more sustainable economy.”