Holcim commits to 40% sustainable financing by 2024

Holcim announces its commitment to reach at least 40% of sustainable financing by 2024, putting climate action, water preservation and safety at the heart of its strategy. The company recently accelerated this commitment with the completion of two new sustainability-linked financing transactions worth above CHF 3 billion. To scale up its impact, Holcim joined the UNGC CFO Taskforce alongside 60 companies representing a combined USD 1.7 trillion in market capitalization. The UNGC CFO Taskforce aligns members’ finance strategies with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Holcim CFO Géraldine Picaud said: “Sustainability is at the core of what we do. That's why we set ourselves some of the most ambitious goals in our industry. Walking the talk, we are putting climate, water and safety at the heart of our financing strategy. To make a bigger impact, I am delighted to be a member of the UNGC CFO Taskforce to move this agenda forward with my peers.”

Building on the company’s EUR 850 million sustainability-linked bond issued in November 2020, Holcim just completed two further transactions. In August 2021, it refinanced a EUR 3 billion syndicated credit line linking it to climate and safety, two of its core sustainability indicators, in line with the UN SDGs 8 (“Decent Work & Economic Growth”) and 13 (“Climate Action”). The cost of the credit facility will depend on the company’s achievement of its annual targets in these areas.

In September 2021, Holcim placed a new ten-year USD 100 million sustainability-linked bond, based on its 2030 CO₂ reduction target. Confirming the company’s leadership in sustainable finance, this issue represents the first private placement of a USD medium-term note linked to climate action. The investor will be entitled to a higher coupon should the company not meet its climate objective.

Holcim’s Sustainability-Linked Financing Framework is aligned with the company’s sustainability strategy. It started with CO₂ reduction, in line with the company’s 2030 climate targets and updated with the full 2050 Net-Zero pathway endorsed by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Following Holcim’s nature-positive strategy launch, it also added “specific freshwater withdrawal” in its cement operations, aligned with SDG 6 (“Clean Water and Sanitation”). ISS ESG agency views the new water KPI as relevant and material to Holcim and will accordingly issue an updated second-party opinion in the course of the month.

The full framework is available online.

About Holcim
Holcim builds progress for people and the planet. As a global leader in innovative and sustainable building solutions, Holcim is enabling greener cities, smarter infrastructure and improving living standards around the world. With sustainability at the core of its strategy Holcim is becoming a net zero company, with its people and communities at the heart of its success. The company is driving the circular economy as a world leader in recycling to build more with less. Holcim is the company behind some of the world’s most trusted brands in the building sector including ACC, Aggregate Industries, Ambuja Cement, Disensa, Firestone Building Products, Geocycle, Holcim and Lafarge. Holcim is 70,000 people around the world who are passionate about building progress for people and the planet through four business segments: Cement, Ready-Mix Concrete, Aggregates and Solutions & Products.

More information is available on www.holcim.com

Important disclaimer – forward-looking statements:
This document contains forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements do not constitute forecasts regarding results or any other performance indicator, but rather trends or targets, as the case may be, including with respect to plans, initiatives, events, products, solutions and services, their development and potential. Although Holcim believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions as at the time of publishing this document, investors are cautioned that these statements are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results may differ materially from the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of Holcim, including but not limited to the risks described in the Holcim's annual report available on its website (www.holcim.com) and uncertainties related to the market conditions and the implementation of our plans. Accordingly, we caution you against relying on forward-looking statements. Holcim does not undertake to provide updates of these forward-looking statements.