Investa Spearheads Change in Australian Property Green Debt Market, Securing $500m in Green Loans

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Investa Commercial Property Fund ('ICPF' or 'the Fund') has now closed almost $500 million in green loans, with green debt making up an increasing proportion of the Fund's total debt pool.

ICPF finalised Australia's first property green loan with ANZ for A$170 million in January 2019, before closing a second green loan with HSBC for A$100min in late 2019. This was followed by a A$100 million green loan with Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) and most recently, a further A$100 million green loan with Westpac.

"The expansion of ICPF's green debt demonstrates Investa's leadership and support for the growth of the sustainable finance market and following our initial loan with ANZ we're pleased to have secured the certified facilities with CBA, HSBC and Westpac, who share our commitment to transitioning to a low carbon economy," said Mr Jason Leong, ICPF Fund Manager.

Nina James, General Manager Responsible Investment & Corporate Sustainability said Investa will continue to build on its previous successes in 2020, looking for new opportunities to further green its portfolio.

"Importantly, ICPF is now able to leverage its impressive track record as an ESG leader to create financial opportunity," she explained.

"The ongoing commitment to pursuing and certifying green debt, enables the Fund to access capital and

support the development of the sustainable finance sector in Australia. The benefits of green debt include access to a diversified investor base, and leadership opportunities. We have also observed competitive pricing in the green debt space.

"Each of ICPF's loans were certified by the globally recognised Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI). ICPF's high performing portfolio of commercial buildings allowed it to comfortably meet the CBI carbon emission thresholds to achieve certification on day one.

"The intention is to continually up-cycle our existing vanilla debt into green debt, to finance green buildings," said Nina James.

The global green loan sector was worth close to USD5bn in 2019. Green bonds at the end of the same

period totalled USD62.8b, representing an increase of 87% year on year.

Market momentum in the green debt space is being fuelled in part, by regulatory changes in Europe, which require investors to make mandatory disclosures around the climate change risks in their portfolios Katharine Tapley, Head of Sustainable Finance at ANZ said the green debt market has evolved rapidly in Australia since Investa secured its first loan in 2019.

"Investa kicked off the development of Australian's green debt market with the announcement of their first green loan. Since that time, we have seen significantly more interest in green loans and more recently in sustainability linked loans," she said.