1,212 public bodies financed, more than 10,000 new jobs created and maintained and more than 40 million cubic metres of water saved.
These are the results of CDP’s Sustainability Bond, the first issued in Italy, designed to support the construction and modernisation of the country’s water infrastructure, in order to bridge the infrastructure deficit that characterises this sector in Italy.
One year after the issue, data on the use of the proceeds from the bond were presented in a report: the funds were fully allocated, confirming Cassa Depositi e Prestiti’s commitment to growth and sustainable development of the territory.
Through the Sustainability Bond, CDP has funded projects in the “Infrastructure and Development of Cities” category, the first of the four “Eligible Categories” defined in the CDP Green, Social and Sustainability Bond Framework. This category contributes to the achievement of some of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (“UN SDGs”), including, in particular, number 6. “Clean Water and Sanitation” which aims to “guarantee the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all”.
The proceeds of the issue, in fact, were used to finance interventions on the national water network (70% of the portfolio), such as, for example, the creation of new water pipelines or the efficiency of existing infrastructure, for a total of 745 projects funded.
17% of the portfolio was allocated to projects dedicated to the prevention of hydrogeological instability and the protection of the territory: these include maintenance work on canals and watercourses and the securing of the territory following atmospheric events such as floods and landslides.
The remaining 13% is represented, finally, by operations on sewerage networks, such as those for the regulation of water or maintenance of purification plants.
In terms of geographical distribution, the funds raised through the issuance of the Bond have helped to support interventions throughout the peninsula. In particular, the regions in Northern Italy have used these resources mainly to carry out interventions on the water network, those of the Centre for interventions to prevent hydrogeological instability and to protect the territory, while the regions of the South and the Islands to finance works on the sewerage network.
The results of the Sustainability Bond confirm CDP’s proximity to the territory and local realities (80% of the bodies financed are municipalities with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants), with an ever-increasing focus on sustainability.
Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, through its Green, Social and Sustainability Bonds, promotes forms of investment capable of generating added value in social and environmental terms, contributing to the achievement of the 17 UN SDGs.
Read the report