CORK, Ireland, Sept. 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Johnson
Controls (NYSE: JCI), the global leader for smart,
healthy and sustainable buildings has furthered its leadership
in sustainable finance following the completion of its first
Sustainability-Linked Bond offering of $500
million in ten-year senior notes. The offering of the
Sustainability-Linked Bond is in conformity with the company's
recently published integrated green, social and
sustainability-linked finance framework. The publication of an
integrated sustainable finance framework and issuance of a
Sustainability-Linked Bond mark two new sustainability milestones
for Johnson Controls, which has become the first S&P500
industrial company to complete both accomplishments.
Johnson Controls is the first S&P500 company to have floated
the trifecta of sustainable instruments
Earlier, in January 2021, Johnson
Controls adopted a new set of ambitious environmental goals, which
were approved by the Science Based Targets Initiative. The company
committed to cut operational emissions by 55 percent and reduce
customers' emissions by 16 percent before 2030. Based on these
commitments, the company issued a Sustainability-Linked Bond which
ties the interest rate on the bond to the achievement of these
environmental goals. This means that Johnson Controls will pay a
higher interest rate to bond investors if it fails to meet its
interim targets for reducing Scope 1 + 2 and Scope 3 carbon
emissions by September 16, 2025.
"Experts say that an additional $1-2 trillion/year must be invested in
sustainability and cutting greenhouse gases if we are going to have
any chance of meeting the steep carbon reductions science tells us
is urgently required," said George
Oliver, chairman and CEO, Johnson
Controls. "Governments alone will not be able to mobilize
this sum of money, so private sector capital needs to get
sustainable, and fast. Building the market for sustainable finance
is therefore an imperative; and ensuring that the highest standards
are met so that dollars flow to projects that truly accelerate
decarbonization, is also critical. With our continued commitment to
sustainable finance and aggressive sustainability targets, we are
showing our leadership in the field."
The adoption of an expanded, integrated Sustainable Finance
Framework gives Johnson Controls the flexibility to utilize a wider
range of sustainable finance instruments than its prior Green
Finance Framework, now enabling the company to issue Green,
Sustainability, and Sustainability-Linked Bonds and Loans. This
more than ever shows the company's desire to promote an ESG impact
via its debt financing and further strengthen the commitments the
company has made around reducing its greenhouse gas emissions. The
Sustainable Finance Framework received a positive Second Party
Opinion (SPO) from Sustainalytics, calling the framework "credible
and impactful", noting that the company's key performance
indicators (KPIs) are "very strong", and the company's sustainable
performance targets (SPTs) are "ambitious" to "highly ambitious".
The integrated Sustainable Finance Framework is available on the
Johnson Controls Corporate Sustainability website, together with a
link to the SPO.
The Sustainability-Linked Bond offering further solidifies
Johnson Controls leadership in the use of sustainable finance
instruments to support initiatives aimed at combatting climate
change – now being the first S&P500 company to have floated the
trifecta of sustainable instruments. In December 2019, Johnson Controls became one of the
first industrial companies to tie its senior revolving credit
facilities to individual sustainability metrics in the U.S.
syndicated loan market. In September 2020, it completed
its inaugural green bond issuance in the form of $625 million in ten-year senior notes. This
landmark issuance was not only one of the largest among industrial
issuers in the U.S., but also made Johnson Controls one of the
first industrial companies to issue a green bond in the U.S. dollar
debt capital markets.
With respect to the company's green bond issuance, the company
is pleased to announce that it has fully allocated the net proceeds
of the green bond within one year of issuance on projects aimed at
driving energy efficiency, both internally and for its customers.
An overview of the final allocation, along with the corresponding
positive environmental impacts and project spotlights, will be
provided in the 2021 Green Bond Report, which will be posted on the
company's Corporate Sustainability website tomorrow, September 17, 2021.
"This is further demonstration that Johnson Controls is taking a
lead in the zero emissions buildings space, said Katie McGinty, vice president & chief
sustainability, government and regulatory affairs officer at
Johnson Controls. "Slashing carbon emissions from buildings is
critical in tackling climate change, since they represent 40
percent of all greenhouse gas emissions and analyses show that 30
percent and more of green finance proceeds go to sustainable
buildings projects. Johnson Controls OpenBlue digital platform and
services for optimizing buildings can drive improvements of 50
percent and more in energy efficiency to deliver corresponding
reductions carbon emissions."
As a leader in the buildings space for more than 135 years,
Johnson Controls has been a pioneer in sustainability. It is ranked
in the top 12 percent of climate leadership companies globally by
CDP and was recently named again to the World's Most Ethical
Companies® Honoree List and one of Corporate Knights' Global 100
most Sustainable Companies.
For more information, please visit:
https://www.johnsoncontrols.com/corporate-sustainability/sustainable-finance
About Johnson Controls:
At Johnson Controls (NYSE:JCI)
we transform the environments where people live, work, learn and
play. As the global leader in smart, healthy and sustainable
buildings, our mission is to reimagine the performance of buildings
to serve people, places and the planet.
With a history of more than 135 years of innovation, Johnson
Controls delivers the blueprint of the future for industries such
as healthcare, schools, data centers, airports, stadiums,
manufacturing and beyond through its comprehensive digital offering
OpenBlue. With a global team of 100,000 experts in more than 150
countries, Johnson Controls offers the world`s
largest portfolio of building technology, software as well
as service solutions with some of the most
trusted names in the industry. For more information,
visit www.johnsoncontrols.com or follow us
@johnsoncontrols on Twitter.
INVESTOR
CONTACTS:
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MEDIA
CONTACTS:
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Antonella
Franzen
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Chaz
Bickers
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Direct:
609.720.4665
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Direct:
224.307.0655
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Email: antonella.franzen@jci.com
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Email: charles.norman.bickers@jci.com
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Ryan
Edelman
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Michael
Isaac
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Direct:
609.720.4545
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Direct: +41 52
6330374
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Email: ryan.edelman@jci.com
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Email: michael.isaac@jci.com
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SOURCE Johnson Controls International plc