Case studies under Programmatic Certification

 

Société du Grand Paris (SGP), France

8 bonds to date - total USD5,678m equivalent Certified 

 

The State-owned entity is executing the ‘Grand Paris Express’ project by the 2030s. This ambitious plan is the largest infrastructure project in Europe including 200kms of new metro and commuter rail lines and 68 new rail stations, compared to the existing 400kms network. 

The Project aims to deliver on the SDGs and low carbon ambitions of the government. 

Fully electric network is eligible under the Low Carbon Transport Criteria. 

The total estimated final size of the programme is worth EUR 35 billion. They issued their first Certified Bond in October 2018 and now are in the process of issuing another Certified bond.

 

New York Metropolitan Transport Authority, New York

11 bonds to date – total USD6,722m Certified

 

 

Our biggest Programmatic Issuer so far, the New York authority oversees a large transport system. They began their Programmatic bond issuance in February 2016.

The proceeds finance their operations and investment of the New York subway network, which is automatically eligible under the Low Carbon Transport Criteria. 

NY MTA has an extensive debt issuance programme. Programmatic Certification is applied to only a portion of their overall debt raising, existing alongside their traditional ‘vanilla’ bonds.

 

New York State Housing Finance Agency (NY SHFA)

14 bonds to date – USD 1,183 million Certified

 

 

HFA finances development of affordable housing in New York State by New York State Homes and Community Renewal.

In 2016, they announced a Green Bond Programme which will finance their future housing projects, with units meeting certain energy efficiency thresholds.

HFA have received Programmatic Certification for future buildings. Any of their future bonds financing buildings that meet the Low Carbon Buildings Criteria will be Certified.

So far, these bonds have contributed to financing several thousand housing units. They have plans to continue issuing Certified Bonds at the rate of several a year.

New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced the bond, which will finance energy efficient residential buildings at the 2016 Sustainable Development Conference.

The bond is part of the New York State Homes and Community Renewals Housing Finance Agency's new Green Bond Program, ultimately funding four developments for affordable and supportive housing in New York City and its surrounding counties.

"Green Bonds are an innovative tool to build cleaner, greener, affordable housing and place New York at the forefront of sustainable development." Governor Cuomo said. "New York leads the nation in pioneering solutions to 21st century challenges, and these Green Bonds will provide hundreds of new housing units to New Yorkers in need, while reducing carbon emissions, mitigating the impact of climate change and creating a more sustainable future for all New Yorkers."

Since the first bond, NY HFA has used the Programmatic Certification to issue 10 more Certified bonds, totalling USD998.5m as of December 2018.

 

SNCF Réseau

7 bonds and multiple taps, to date – USD6,301 million equivalent Certified

 

SNCF Réseau manages the rail network infrastructure across France, including 35,000 km of track. 

The network supports electric passenger trains which is eligible for Certification under the Low Carbon Transport Criteria. 

They undertook Programmatic Certification in November 2016 for investment in new railway infrastructure and maintenance operations, the first French green bond Issuer to adopt the PC process.

 

National Australia Bank (NAB), Australia

NAB is one of the ‘Big 4’ banks in Australia.

4 bonds to date - USD2,010m equivalent Certified

 

As a large bank with diverse loan portfolios, they have received Programmatic Certification for two different Certified Bond Programmes. 

One is the NAB Residential Mortgage Backed Securities Trust (RMBS), where the Certified bond refinances residential mortgages linked to buildings which meet the Low Carbon Buildings Criteria. 

The other is their SDG Green Bond Programme, which refinances loans related to the Solar, Wind, Low Carbon Transport, Marine Renewable Energy, Low Carbon Buildings (Commercial) Criteria.

 

Westpac, Australia

4 bonds to date – USD1,090m equivalent Certified

 

One of the ‘Big 4’ banks in Australia and a Certified Bond Issuer since May 2016.

Westpac has issued bonds in the Euro market, Japanese private placement & launched a Green Deposits product.

In 2017 Westpac received Programmatic Certification for all their existing bonds and the programme of issuances in the future.

Westpac has an annual verification process in place to confirm the Certification of the individual bonds and deposits, and the overall programme.

The projects and assets meet the Wind, Solar, Low Carbon Buildings, and Low Carbon Transport Criteria.

 

San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC)

5 bonds to date – USD1,413m Certified

 

 

SFPUC is a government entity that is responsible for managing water supplies and distribution in San Francisco County and the region. 

They have received Programmatic Certification for two bond programmes which finance their investments and operations in the Wastewater Investment Programme and the Drinking Water Investment Programme.

Both have received Certification under the Water Infrastructure Criteria. 

 

Contact Energy, New Zealand

Multiple bonds to date – USD1,475m equivalent Certified

 

Contact Energy is a leader in geothermal power generation in New Zealand with over 350MW of generation capacity. It has developed a Green Borrowing Programme with a mix of debt instruments worth NZ$1.8bn to support the financing of its facilities. 

In August 2017, this programme received Certification under the Geothermal Energy Criteria.

This was treated as post-issuance Certification, so that all of the prior debt instruments in this financing programme were also Certified together with any future debt instruments issued to finance the geothermal energy facilities. 

 

Please use or share the Introduction PowerPoint that highlights all the above Case Studies.

Find the Green Programmatic Issuers table here.

For any queries contact directly:

Matteo Bigoni

Head of Certification

Climate Bonds Initiative

matteo.bigoni@climatebonds.net

certification@climatebonds.net