Maersk issues first green bond to fund first green methanol vessels

A.P. Moller – Maersk (Maersk) has launched its Green Finance Framework designed to allow the company to issue a variety of sustainable financing instruments which may include bonds, loans, project finance and other instruments.

Cicero Green was appointed to review Maersk´s Green Finance Framework and ultimately verify its alignment with the ICMA Green Bond Principles 2021 and the Green Loan Principles 2021 and market practices. Based on the overall assessment of the eligible green assets under this framework and governance and transparency considerations, Maersk’s Green Finance Framework has received a Cicero Medium Green shading and a governance score of Excellent.

"Issuing Green Financing Instruments is a further step to integrating sustainability into our financing operations as it is an effective tool for channelling investments to projects with positive environmental impact and thereby contributing to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement. With this green bond, we aim at diversifying our investor base by reaching out to new investors and increasing the transparency of our ESG ambitions and performance even further towards our stakeholders," says Patrick Jany, CFO at A.P. Moller - Maersk.

By establishing the new Green Finance Framework, Maersk intends to align its funding strategy with its goal to become carbon neutral by 2050.

To start with, the company has successfully placed its inaugural 10-year, €500 million green bond to fund the build of its first feeder vessel and the ground-breaking series of 8 large ocean-going container vessels which will be capable of operating on carbon neutral methanol by 2023 and 2024, respectively. The transaction received a strong reception from broad investor universe and was several times oversubscribed with a final order book of € €3.7bn. The transaction priced at coupon of 0.75%, the lowest coupon ever for Maersk.