Company further enhances its commitment to sustainability mission
ICL (NYSE: ICL) (TASE: ICL), a leading global specialty minerals company, today announced a new €250 million sustainability linked loan (SLL), with a five-year term through 2026 and a fixed annual interest rate of 0.8%. The loan is an innovative step forward in the company’s ongoing sustainability efforts and includes three sustainability performance targets. These targets have been designed to align with ICL’s sustainability strategy and goals, and each will be assessed at specific times during the term of the loan by third-party certification.
As part of this effort, ICL is targeting an annual 4% to 5% reduction in direct and indirect Scope 1 and Scope 2 CO2e emissions resulting from ICL global operations. Third-party monitoring will begin with the 2021 fiscal year, in accordance with the accounting and reporting standards published by the GHG Protocol.
The company is also planning to expand its participation in Together for Sustainability (Tfs), a global initiative dedicated to developing and implementing a global supplier engagement program that assesses and improves sustainability sourcing practices. Through 2025, the company is committed to adding a significant number of Tfs qualified vendors each year, who meet criteria in the areas of management, environment, health and safety, labor and human rights, ethics, and governance.
In addition, ICL will continue to focus on inclusion, equality and expanding the representation of women among its senior management, executive and board of director roles. ICL has worked to increase the number of women in senior management, and this segment has already grown from 9% in 2018 to 19% in 2021. As part of the SLL, the company has set a target for women to hold at least 25% of senior management roles, by the end of 2024.
“ICL is proud to be a leader in sustainability practices, including becoming the first company in Israel and among its peers to execute a sustainability linked loan – a logical next step in our mission to transform from a company that extracts minerals to a company that uses its minerals to create sustainable solutions for humanity,” said Raviv Zoller, president and CEO of ICL. “Our continued focus on ESG practices, as well as our increased transparency regarding all sustainability issues, has driven us to embed this effort into our debt structure and to adopt TCFD reporting, beginning with our 2021 fiscal year.”
More details on ICL’s sustainability efforts and progress can be found in its 2020 Corporate Responsibility Report, which was recently published and details management’s and the Board of Director’s joint commitment to sustainability.
The loan was entered into with a syndicate of five leading global lenders. The loan was arranged by BNP Paribas and MUFG as joint bookrunners, mandated lead arrangers and ESG coordinators. Bank of America Europe DAC, Rabobank and SMBC Group acted as mandated lead arrangers.
About ICL
ICL Group is a leading global specialty minerals company, which also benefits from commodity upside. The company creates impactful solutions for humanity's sustainability challenges in global food, agriculture, and industrial markets. ICL leverages its unique bromine, potash and phosphate resources, its passionate team of talented employees, and its strong focus on R&D and technological innovation to drive growth across its end markets. ICL shares are dually listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (NYSE and TASE: ICL). The company employs more than 12,000 people worldwide, and its 2020 revenues totaled approximately $5.0 billion.
For more information, visit ICL's website at www.icl-group.com.
To access ICL's interactive Corporate Responsibility Report, please click here.
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Forward Looking Statements
This announcement contains statements that constitute forward-looking statements, many of which can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as anticipate, believe, could, expect, should, plan, intend, estimate, strive, forecast, target, and potential, among others. Forward-looking statements are based on our management’s beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to our management. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, and the actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements due to various factors including other risk factors discussed under Item 3 - Key Information - D. Risk Factors in the company's annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2020, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 2, 2021 (the Annual Report).
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