Agribusiness Group Furthers Sustainability Agenda With UOB Loan
The interest rate will be pegged to the achievement of pre-determined targets that have been set based on a list of performance indicators, and will be assessed by ESG research and ratings provider Sustainanalytics.
Singapore-based agribusiness group Wilmar International has inked a two-year $200 million sustainability-linked loan from UOB, the bank announced in a statement on Tuesday.
Performance indicators used in structuring the loan include corporate governance, carbon emissions, land use and biodiversity, community relations and supply chain practices, which will help in ensuring that Wilmar’s operations are socially and environmentally responsible.
«This is especially important given that the global population is expected to increase to close to 10 billion by 2050,» the statement said.
Sustainable Financing
The loan from UOB comes just weeks after Wilmar announced that it had secured a S$200 million loan from DBS – the industry's first loan pegged to the Singapore Overnight Rate Average (SORA).
Wilmar has previously committed to meeting the global demand for food without causing a drain on resources. «In building a responsible business, Wilmar believes that the pursuit of our sustainability goals must encompass all aspects of our operations including seeking sustainable financing solutions at the corporate level,» Charles Loo, Wilmar’s Chief Financial Officer, said.
«We believe that with our understanding of how businesses can achieve growth more sustainably, we will be able to support more companies in the commodity sector in their efforts to achieve positive outcomes for the environment and society,» Lim Chen Chen, head of group structured trade and commodity finance, UOB, said.
