NatWest Group, a UK-focused banking organisation, has launched its inaugural Electric Vehicle Green Bond (the “EV Green Bond”), raising €750 million from institutional investors across the UK, Europe, and Asia. This issuance makes NatWest Group the first UK bank to issue a green bond dedicated exclusively to financing or refinancing electric vehicles.
The financing supported by the EV Green Bond will come from Lombard, the asset finance arm of NatWest Group. Lombard, recently named Best Business Motor Finance provider, is the UK’s largest asset financier by net lending volume. In 2023, Lombard delivered over £2.3 billion in climate and sustainable funding for sustainable transport to UK businesses.
In 2019, NatWest Group introduced its Green, Social & Sustainability Financing Framework (the “GSS Framework”). Since its launch, up to 31 December 2023, NatWest Group has issued three social bonds and three green bonds with a total principal amount of £3.9 billion. For the 12-month period ending 31 December 2023, the impact of the green bonds was an estimated avoidance of 0.121 million tonnes of CO2e emissions.
NatWest Group plans to report on the allocation of the EV Green Bond proceeds and provide an estimate of the CO2 emissions avoided within 12 months of issuance, using management information and/or industry data.
Stuart Clark, Head of Climate Transition for Lombard said, “Being the first UK bank to issue a green bond dedicated to financing and refinancing electric vehicles further underscores our commitment and ongoing support to our customers in their transition to net zero. The automotive sector is a key enabler for the UK economy and we are committed to continuing to work with the industry towards its decarbonisation goals through providing a range of funding and leasing solutions. Lombard is one of the UK’s leading supporters of the automotive sector and we expect to continue to see growth in demand to fund low emission vehicles in the future.”