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Port of Brisbane locks in sustainability-linked financing
The Port of Brisbane, Australia’s largest and most diverse capital city port, has agreed to terms on a $500 million sustainability linked loan, to be financed by a syndicate of 10 banks. The sustainability linked loan was negotiated as part of larger $850m syndicated bank loan transaction in November 2022 and will take effect from June 2023.
The loan will be executed under the Port’s Sustainability Financing Framework and will be linked to KPIs across three key areas: Emissions reduction, biodiversity, and mental health first aid.
Port of Brisbane Pty Ltd’s (PBPL) Chief Executive, Neil Stephens, said the deal would support the port’s ongoing investment while cementing its place as an industry leader in sustainability.
“Sustainability at the Port of Brisbane is a whole-of-business strategy. Everything we do incorporates the principles sustainability with the long-term future of the business and its community at its core,” Mr Stephens said.
“Our ambitious sustainability targets across People, Planet, Prosperity and Partnerships drive not only our day-to-day business activities, but our future planning and our interactions with stakeholders.
“Tying an important part of our financing structure to sustainability sends a clear signal to investors and the community that our commitment to the global transition to a more sustainable future is deep and unwavering.”
Mr Stephens said the port was particularly proud to include mental health first aid as a key focus area in the deal.
“We are working incredibly hard to drive down our scope 1 and 2 emissions, and we are working closely with our customer base as to how we can record and influence scope 3.
“We are also extremely proud of the role we play in managing the biodiversity of the port area. We work immediately adjacent to a Ramsar wetland site, and ensuring it thrives long into the future is a key goal of ours.
“But sustainability to the Port of Brisbane is also about the health and wellbeing of our workforce, which is why we have included ambitious goals on mental health first aid support.
“To be a sustainable business must mean having a healthy and engaged workforce, and we will be working hard to deliver on those commitments as soon as we can.”
PBPL’s sustainability linked metrics include:
- Emissions reduction: to reduce scope 1 and 2 emissions periodically to below 8,702 tCO2e by FY26 (from an FY22 baseline of 12,289 tCO2e)
- Biodiversity: Rehabilitate 10 hectares of land in aggregate across FY24, FY25 and FY26
- Mental health first aid: To achieve Tier 2 (Advanced Workplace) status given by Mental Health First Aid Australia by FY25
The $500 million sustainability-linked loan is split across two terms, $240m over a four-year term and $260m over a six-year term and will allow PBPL to decrease its funding costs should it meet the afore-mentioned targets.