Rabobank has partnered with Tassal Group, acting as joint sustainability coordinator on Tassal’s $497 million sustainability-linked loan (SLL) facilities, announced yesterday.
The SLL – which links parts of the interest charges to sustainability-related key performance indicators – is the first for any aquaculture company in Australasia.
Rabobank Australia & New Zealand Head of Wholesale Banking Lizette Sint said as a global specialist in food and agribusiness banking, Rabobank had considerable experience internationally in providing sustainable finance to the aquaculture sector and was very pleased to have now extended that involvement to Australian aquaculture.
“As part of our extensive global experience in the sustainable finance market, Rabobank has been involved in providing a range of sustainability-linked loans to aquaculture companies, in countries including Chile and Norway, but this is our first in the aquaculture sector in this part of the world,” she said.
“We are very pleased to have supported another aquaculture client on its sustainability journey, and particularly to support Tassal – as a leading salmon farming and seafood company – in the first sustainability-linked loan facility for the aquaculture sector in the Australian market.
“Tassal is lifting the bar to a new level by linking a comprehensive list of sustainability KPIs to their financial performance with the new SLL.”
The SLL will see Tassal incentivised to deliver on sustainability targets linked to greenhouse gas emission reduction for its salmon operations, greater feed use efficiencies and maintaining its current salmon certification from the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (the international scheme which independently assesses and certifies farmed seafood for environmental sustainability and social responsibility).
Targets for greenhouse gas emissions will be in areas including not just Scope 1 (direct generated emissions), but also Scope 2 (indirect emissions from purchased energy) and Scope 3 emissions (indirect emissions from the company’s value chain).
Ms Sint said in linking its sustainability performance directly into the company’s financing, Tassal was demonstrating its accountability and clear commitment to achieving ambitious sustainability targets. She congratulated the company for not only focussing on its own operations, but also driving change across the full value chain.
Ms Sint said Rabobank had worked with a number of food and agribusiness clients in Australia and New Zealand over the past two years to support their long-term sustainability targets with sustainability-linked finance, and she expected strong growth in this type of financing in the future.
“The growth number of sustainability-linked loans, such as Tassal’s, represent important milestones in accelerating sustainable food production,” she said.
Tassal Group Managing Director and CEO Mark Ryan said the SLL took the company’s Responsible Business Strategy to a new level. “While Tassal has been committed to sustainability for many years, this is still a significant step and a first for aquaculture in Australia. Linking the sustainability KPIs to our performance in this way is another example of the type of measures that we are prepared to put in place to keep us accountable in a critical area of our business,” he said.
Rabobank Australia & New Zealand Group is a part of the international Rabobank Group, the world’s leading specialist in food and agribusiness banking. Rabobank has more than 120 years’ experience providing customised banking and finance solutions to businesses involved in all aspects of food and agribusiness. Rabobank is structured as a cooperative and operates in 38 countries, servicing the needs of approximately 8.4 million clients worldwide through a network of more than 1000 offices and branches. Rabobank Australia & New Zealand Group is one of Australasia’s leading agricultural lenders and a significant provider of business and corporate banking and financial services to the region’s food and agribusiness sector. The bank has 90 branches throughout Australia and New Zealand.
Media contacts:
Denise Shaw
Head of Media Relations
Rabobank Australia & New Zealand
Phone: 02 8115 2744 or 0439 603 525
Email: denise.shaw@rabobank.com
Will Banks
Media Relations Manager
Rabobank Australia
Phone: 0418 216 103
Email: will.banks@rabobank.com