Ivanhoé Cambridge has become the first Canadian real estate corporation to launch an unsecured green bond.
The real estate arm of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has issued C$300m (€204bn) of five-year green bonds to fund environmentally sustainable initiatives.
The launch follows other green bond issuances this year by Australian real assets fund manager QIC, global logistics specialist Prologis, Dutch residential investor Vesteda, and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
The new green bonds, which mature on 12 December 2024, are being issued by Ivanhoé Cambridge II, the principal holder of the company’s Canadian retail and office portfolio.
They will fund eligible green initiatives in accordance with the recently developed Ivanhoé Cambridge Green Bond Framework, which has been reviewed by Sustainalytics.
“This initiative is perfectly aligned with our [corporate social responsibility] vision and our desire to find innovative ways to finance our activities in a sustainable way for generations to come”, said Simon Lauzier, chief financial and business performance officer.
“Establishing a green bond framework allowed us to be the first real estate corporation to issue unsecured green bonds in Canada, which in turn will help the industry continue its evolution towards offering more green investment opportunities.”
