Australian salmon farming and seafood company Tassal has signed a sustainability-linked loan (SLL) for AUD 497 million of facilities, linking some of the interest charges on its loans to sustainability key performance indicators (KPIs).
The move represents a first for any aquaculture company in Australia.
Under the SLL, Tassal is incentivised to perform against the following sustainability areas:
- · Greenhouse gas emission reduction, across scope 1, 2 and 3
- · Greater feed use efficiency
- · Commitment to continuous improvement initiatives required to maintain Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certification
Tassal is the only Atlantic salmon farmer in Australia to have maintained ASC certification to date.
KPIs and underlying sustainability performance targets (SPTs) have been set in line with Tassal’s Responsible Business Roadmap. The SLL has been verified by ESG firm Sustainalytics, which provided the second party opinion that the loan is aligned with the Asia Pacific Loan Market Association Sustainability-Linked Loan Principles.
Tassal Group Managing Director and CEO Mark Ryan said the SLL took the company’s responsible business strategy to a new level.
“While Tassal has been committed to sustainability for many years, this is still a significant step for Tassal and a first for aquaculture in Australia,” he said.
“Linking the sustainability KPIs to our performance in this way is another example of the type of measures that we are prepared to put in place to keep us accountable in a critical area of our business.”
The agreement is with Commonwealth Bank, Rabobank and Westpac who acted as joint sustainability coordinators.
