Anglian Water has become the first UK company to issue a corporate green bond in the Canadian ‘maple’ bond market.
The C$350 million (€266 million) bond raised will fund Anglian Water’s Strategic Pipeline Alliance (SPA) which is delivering a new network of large-scale interconnecting pipelines to move water to drier areas.
SPA is the biggest infrastructure programme in Anglian Water’s history and one of the largest infrastructure projects in the UK.
On completion, the outcome will be improved the climate resilience for water supplies across the Anglian region.
Crucially, flexibility in moving water more freely around the region helps improve resilience to droughts and enables the company to reduce abstraction from the environment in water-stressed areas.
Reducing abstraction is one of the most important contributions to protecting the environment, the water firm said.
This year’s driest July on record since the 1911 and the driest summer since 1976 highlights the importance of such schemes that ensure resilience to drought for future generations and support customers and businesses, including critical industries such as food production.
Anglian Water’s group treasurer Jane Pilcher said: “The impacts of climate change are acutely impacting the water industry in the UK, and the world over.
“Ours is the driest region in the UK and particularly vulnerable to climate change. Therefore reducing our carbon emissions and adapting to the climate emergency is embedded in everything we do. Spend on resilience to climate change and environmental protection is vitally important. This focus is why 100% of our debt raised in 2021/22 was sustainable finance.”
Anglian Water issues £225m green bond to help fund projects
