Daily ESG Briefing: Orders hit €18bn for Société du Grand Paris green bonds

Transport company Société du Grand Paris has raised €6bn in green bonds across two tranches: €3bn of 10-year notes with a 0% coupon, and €3bn of 40-year notes with a 0.7% coupon. The deal represents the largest green transaction ever issued by a non-sovereign issuer. The 40-year tranche attracted more than 230 investors while the 10-year offering attracted 185 investors. The combined order book hit €18bn.

The World Resources Institute is aligning its $40m endowment with the goals of the Paris Agreement. It has already divested fossil fuels, but now the endowment has released a Climate Change Investment Statement which commits it to incorporating climate considerations across its portfolio and making investments to drive a low-carbon, just and resilient transition to Net Zero by 2050.

The US SIF Foundation is offering its online course on the Fundamentals of Sustainable and Impact Investment for free to 500 financial advisors, on a first-come-first served basis. The course is targeted at advisors who want to learn the basics of sustainable investing and how to incorporate it into investment portfolios and client conversations.

The Eurex Exchange has launched a new series of futures and options on the EURO STOXX 50 ESG Index, and the DAX 50 ESG Index. The former excludes companies that Sustainalytics considers to be non-compliant with global ESG standards, with 10% of the lowest scoring companies also excluded and replaced by companies with a higher ESG score from the same sector. On the latter, companies must pass the above ESG screens, as well as not be involved in controversial weapons, tobacco production, thermal coal, nuclear power or military contracting. The new contracts will be available on November 9.

The UK’s Universities Superannuation Scheme has reportedly invested £400m for a 49% stake in BP UK retail sites. USS Investment Management, the in-house manager for the £68bn pension scheme, said it has agreed to invest in BP’s freehold property estate of 199 UK petrol stations in a sale and leaseback deal.