Ford Releases Sustainable Financing Report and Updates on Impact of Green Bond Investments

• Nearly 90% of net proceeds from Ford’s inaugural green bond have been allocated to clean transportation projects, including investments in Ford’s electric vehicle lineup   

• The report also outlines the lifetime emissions achieved by the Mustang Mach-E, F-150 Lightning and E-Transit

• The sustainable financing report is consistent with the company’s Ford+ business plan to create value for stakeholders

The corporation that began its sustainable financial framework in November 2021, Ford Motor Company, published first-year actions. The Sustainable Financing Report 2022 outlines how Ford's electric vehicle design, development, and manufacturing are supported by the net revenues from the company's first green bond, as well as how the switch to EVs is having a beneficial social and environmental impact.

Ford released the framework last year in connection with the release of its first green bond, a $2.5 billion deal that at the time was the largest of its kind by a U.S.-based firm, and on the fifth anniversary of the Paris Climate Agreement.

According to John Lawler, chief financial officer of Ford, "addressing environmental and social concerns and supporting them in the appropriate way is excellent for customers and our long-term prosperity." We're working to build communities that are prosperous, healthy, and just in a sustainable, zero-emissions future.

Clean transportation projects have received $2.16 billion, or approximately 90%, of the net proceeds from the first green bond as of August 31, 2022. The remaining proceeds are anticipated to be distributed by the end of the year. Ford intends to use the funds from a second green bond worth $1.75 billion that was issued in August 2022 before the end of 2023.

DHL and Ford have agreed to purchase 2,000 electric vans for use in last-mile deliveries around the world.

Cynthia Williams, worldwide director, Sustainability, Homologation and Compliance at Ford, stated that "the society we want to help build requires innovation and collective action." "I'm happy to declare that by 2030, 50% of all vehicles on the road will be electric. We're committed to utilising this shift to support the expansion of enterprises and the well-being of communities, therefore we're planning to develop high-quality electric vehicles on a large scale.

According to the framework, which received the highest-possible "advanced" rating from the renowned Vigeo Eiris, a division of Moody's Corp. that evaluates ESG initiatives, financing of these environmental and social projects can be done through various funding markets, including unsecured debt and securitization transactions.

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent third party, has examined and verified Ford's sustainable financing reporting, which complies with environmental and social best practices defined by the International Capital Market Association and the Loan Market Association. These organizations advocate for impact measurement, external evaluations, transparency, and disclosure in sustainable financing.

Ford is the largest carmaker in the United States, employs the most hourly workers here, and was one of the first American automakers to join forces with other nations to reduce the effects of global warming as part of the Paris Climate Agreement. With science-based interim objectives it will meet by 2035, the corporation has committed to become carbon neutral across all of its vehicles, operations, and supply chain no later than 2050.

(Source : ESG News)