ABP Invests in Council of Europe Development Bank Social Bond
Posted on 04/12/2022
The Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) is a multilateral development bank with an exclusively social mandate. Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP, which is managed by APG Asset Management, invested more than €150 million in a social bond of the Council of Europe Development Bank. With the borrowed money, CEB supports countries that received many Ukrainian refugees from the Russian invasion of Ukraine. CEB issued a new €1 billion seven-year Social Inclusion Bond (SIB) to bolster its response to the social crisis unfolding due to the war in Ukraine and help its member states assist millions of refugees seeking safety.
Other investors in the SIB include Credit Agricole Group and AG2R LA MONDIALE.
The Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) is a multilateral development bank with an exclusively social mandate.
Through the provision of financing and technical expertise for projects with a high social impact in its member states, it actively promotes social cohesion and strengthens social integration in Europe.
The CEB represents a major instrument of the policy of solidarity in Europe. It participates in financing social projects, responds to emergency situations and contributes to improving the living conditions of the most disadvantaged population groups. The CEB’s long-standing partnership with the European Union was solidified in 2021 through the application to the InvestEU loan guarantee facility and by the establishment of two initiatives jointly funded with the EU: Housing and Empowerment of Roma (HERO) and Partnerships and Financing for Migrant Inclusion (PAFMI). The CEB also joined other multilateral banks in aligning its goals with the Paris Agreement on Climate (COP26).
Italy
In March 2022, CEB and and Italy’s multi-utility company IREN S.p.A. signed a €80 million loan to boost the use of green energy in the metropolitan area of Turin in Italy. The CEB loan will support the implementation of IREN’s district heating investment plan for 2021-2025, which aims to improve the distribution of thermal energy to residential and public buildings in Turin. The plan envisages increase in the volume of district heating by approximately 13 million cubic meters, construction of 156 kilometers of new network, and renovation of approximately 13 kilometers of the existing network. The CEB loan will cover approximately 40% of the total financial needs envisaged by this plan. IREN operates mainly in the north-western part of Italy, in the regions of Emilia Romagna, Liguria and Piedmont. It will on-lend the CEB’s financial resources to its subsidiary in charge of district heating activities. Sub-projects to be funded by the CEB loan include the upgrading and extension of the Turin district heating network and development of a new heating storage plant for a total cost of approximately € 198 million.