Stora Enso Launches a Green Bond Framework

HELSINKI, May 15, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Stora Enso is integrating its sustainability agenda into funding and financial services to increase transparency and to highlight the positive environmental impact of its business.

Stora Enso today launches its Green Bond Framework as part of its Sustainable Finance approach. The ambition is to offer a loan-format to support sustainability-focused fixed income investors and to report the direct environmental impacts of some its investments and business activities. The Group will use this bond format to complement its other funding sources.

Stora Enso's strategy on Sustainable Finance is a natural part of its overall agenda on sustainability and an integral part of its focus on being the world's leading renewable materials company. Stora Enso's goal is to work with funding partners for whom sustainability is a key part of their lending agenda.

Stora Enso's aim is to have all its suppliers, including those for financial services join the Stora Enso Supplier Code of Conduct. We see this as generating competitive advantage and thus prefer to partner with banks and financial service providers that make sustainability a leading issue in their respective eco-systems.

"We want to contribute to a scenario where the sustainability of business is a key metric for credit risk assessment. Key aspects of our strategy for sustainable finance are to increase transparency for our investors and to highlight the positive environmental impact of our business and related investments," says SVP Treasurer

Martin Ros

.

During December 2017 Stora Enso signed a sustainability linked EUR 600 million revolving credit facility with a syndicate of 13 banks. The loan and the agreement have a direct link to our ambitious science-based targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions throughout the group's value chain. The pricing of the loan is partly connected to our achievement of the science-based targets.

In developing these models for funding, we have carefully considered the relevant initiatives and best practices already in use today, such as Green Bond Principles, Science Based Targets, UN Sustainable Development Goals and the final report from the EU High-Level Expert Group on Sustainable Finance

.

The Green Bond Framework and the overall Sustainable Finance strategy have been developed together with Nordea while Sustainalytics has provided a second party opinion on the framework.

Read more about Stora Enso's approach to sustainable finance:

• Stora Enso's Green Bonds webpage

• Stora Enso's Sustainability Report 2017

• Science-based targets

• SDGs

Part of the bioeconomy, Stora Enso is a leading global provider of renewable solutions in packaging, biomaterials, wooden constructions and paper. We believe that everything that is made from fossil-based materials today can be made from a tree tomorrow. Stora Enso has some 26 000 employees in over 30 countries. Our sales in 2017 were EUR 10 billion. Stora Enso shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki (STEAV, STERV) and Nasdaq Stockholm (STE A, STE R). In addition, the shares are traded in the USA as ADRs (SEOAY). storaenso.com/investors

For further information, please contact:
Martin Ros,
SVP,
Treasurer,
tel. [phone]

Investor enquiries:
Ulla Paajanen-Sainio
SVP
Investor Relations,
tel. [phone]

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

http://news.cision.com/stora-enso-oyj/r/stora-enso-launches-a-green-bond-framework,c2520518