In order to shed light on the potential and growth challenges of sustainability-linked financial instruments, this Annex provides case studies on companies that raise sustainability-linked finance for their decarbonisation in hard-to-abate sectors, selected from emerging and developing economies. Illustrative examples include sustainability-linked instruments issued by Indorama Ventures (chemicals, Thailand), CEMEX (cement, Mexico) and JSW (steel, India). Countries were selected to focus on emerging and developing countries, and where possible, to take advantage of contacts through the OECD Clean Energy Finance and Investment Mobilisation (CEFIM) programme. Companies headquartered in these countries were selected based on whether a sustainability-linked financing framework with sufficient detail was put in place in the past 12 months (further background on the companies below).
The company case studies have been informed by background desk-based research and review of the companies’ publicly available sustainability strategy, sustainability-linked financing framework and associated Second Party Opinion (SPO) documents. In order to gather additional information and insights on the opportunities and challenges around corporate use of sustainability-linked instruments and the link with credible transition plans, interviews were conducted with the relevant company staff. Subsequently, the case studies prepared by the OECD were vetted by the companies ahead of their publication in this report. Insights and lessons learnt from the case studies are incorporated in the main text of the Guidance – see Box 2.1 in Chapter 2 above. Further background on the companies and their strategies, targets and frameworks can be found below.
Indorama Ventures is a producer of a wide range of plastic polymers, chemicals, and fibres. Headquartered in Bangkok, Indorama Ventures operates in 35 countries in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America. Its SLB issuance was the largest in Thailand and one of the few in the sector in EMDEs.
CEMEX is a Mexican multinational company that manufactures and distributes cement, ready-mix concrete and aggregates in over 50 countries.
JSW Steel Ltd is a multinational steel company based in Mumbai, part of the JSW Group. JSW Steel is India's second largest private sector steel company. JSW Steel was the first company in the steel sector globally to issue a USD-denominated sustainability linked bond.