Friday 22 January 2021

Tesco issues €750m bond linked to sustainability

Tesco has issued a €750 million (£665m) bond that is linked to the supermarket's commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for the first time.

It is part of the company's commitment to reduce its impact on the environment and become a net zero carbon business in the UK by 2035.

The bond is aligned to the sustainability performance target (SPT) of reducing Scope 1 and 2 group greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by 2025 against Tesco's 2015 baseline.

The supermarket has already achieved a 50% reduction in emissions as well as sources around 97% of its electricity from renewable energy.

It also announced a partnership with Low Carbon last November to develop three new solar farms and introduced a fleet of electric vehicles (EVs) in London as part of its plan to go fully electric by 2030.

Tesco CFO Alan Stewart said: “I'm delighted that we have issued our first sustainability-linked bond. Linking our financial strategy to our long term commitment to tackle sustainability is an important step in ensuring that this commitment is embedded across all our business operations and ensures we are driving continuous improvement.

“We are proud to be making good progress on our journey to be a net zero carbon business in the UK by 2035 and for the entire Group by 2050.”