As part of its commitment to sustainability, VodafoneZiggo has designed a Sustainable Finance Framework under which it can issue green funding instruments to finance or refinance projects enabling the company to meet its People, Planet, Progress objectives. This Framework replaces VodafoneZiggo’s Green Bond Framework which was published in December 2020.
The latest Framework, published in January 2022, sets out what projects are eligible under the use of proceeds, the process for project evaluation and selection, the management of proceeds, and reporting. The Framework also sets out our new sustainability-linked finance framework, which covers key performance indicators, sustainability performance targets, the characteristics of financing instruments, reporting, and verification.
Sustainalytics, a provider of environmental, social and governance (ESG) research and analysis, has provided a second-party opinion on our Framework. Sustainalytics is of the opinion that the Framework is credible, impactful and aligns with the Green Bond Principles 2021, Green Loan Principles 2021, Sustainability-Linked Bond Principles 2020 and Sustainability-Linked Loan Principles 2021. Furthermore, Sustainalytics considers that our selected key performance indicators are very strong and our targets are highly ambitious.
In April 2021, VodafoneZiggo released its first Green Bond Progress Report detailing how funds raised in accordance with the previous Green Bond Framework had been fully allocated and the associated impact. Subject to issuance of applicable funding instruments, VodafoneZiggo will continue to report on the allocation of proceeds and the associated impact in the year(s) following issuance of any future funding instruments under the current Framework.