Green & Sustainable Finance

Green and sustainability-linked loans are now essential tools for financing the transition to a low-carbon economy. As climate commitments intensify and regulations evolve, they enable businesses to demonstrate tangible progress towards achieving environmental goals while accessing new sources of capital.

Our team supports borrowers, lenders, issuers, private equity sponsors, and investors across a range of sectors, helping them to align key financial decisions with core business values and goals.

Recent experience includes:

• Advising a European bank on amendments to their template term sheets and facilities to include green finance provisions.
• Advising an international bank on a US$48 million green loan financing.
• Advising Zenobe Energy, one of the UK’s largest independent owners and operators of battery storage, on innovative and strategically significant funding, securing up to £20m of contracted receivables funding from NatWest to support the company’s growth plans in the Electric Vehicle sector.
• Equity bridge financing for an investment manager dedicated to sustainable investing.
• Advised a subsidiary of Swire Pacific Offshore in connection with sustainability linked loans made to a company that owns and operates state-of-the-art turbine installation vessels. The loan included a margin ratchet linked to the achievement of certain agreed ESG criteria and was certified by CICERO.
• Advising on a sustainable bond issue for a vehicle leasing company based on financing pools of electric cars.

Please contact Archie Campbell for more information on how we can support you.

The transition to renewable energy is reshaping the global economy, driving demand for innovative, sustainable finance solutions. Clients face a myriad of challenges - from structuring finance for large-scale projects to navigating regulatory frameworks and ensuring long-term commercial viability.

Organisations investing in renewables need clear, commercially focused advice to secure funding, manage risk, and deliver projects that meet both business objectives and sustainability targets. Whether supporting the development of wind farms, solar arrays, energy-from-waste facilities, nuclear facilities or pioneering hydrogen and cleantech ventures, clients require advisers who understand the nuances of the sector and the key commercial drivers.

Our sustainable finance team supports borrowers, lenders, issuers, private equity sponsors, and investors working on major renewables projects. Working seamlessly with our power and renewables team, we offer tailored financial advice for ambitious, innovative projects.

Recent experience includes:

• Represented the mandated lead arrangers on the US $612 million financing of the Shams 1 solar power project at Madinat Zayed, United Arab Emirates.
• Advised on the £100 million financing of 18 photovoltaic power plants and on the finance aspects of the acquisition of three solar projects, totalling nearly 54MW, making the client’s portfolio the largest among all LSE-listed renewable energy funds.
• Advised on the development and financing of the €1.1 billion wind farm development in the Czech Republic.
• Represented Neoen (the developer and borrower) in respect of the development and financing of an 81MW wind farm in Finland, the first of Neoen’s assets in Finland.
• Advised NextGen AssetCo Limited, a 50:50 joint venture vehicle established by Hitachi Rail Limited and FirstGroup plc, on the hybrid project financing of up to 1,000 electric bus batteries valued at c.£100 million.

Please contact Jonathan Cripps for more information on how we can support you or visit our Renewables page.

Sustainability considerations continue to play a central role in the financing of transportation assets in the UK, Europe and Asia.

Financial institutions are conscious of the need to support decarbonisation of hard to abate sectors, such as aviation and maritime, and the reputational risks involved in overselling the environmental benefits of that support. Operators span a much broader spectrum, including, on the one hand, companies that have long put sustainability at the front and centre of their corporate strategy, and on the other, entities just starting out on their sustainability journey.  

With transactional and regulatory specialists active across the transportation industry, Stephenson Harwood has been at the forefront of market developments in this area, advising on several ‘firsts’ in the maritime and aviation financing sectors. We understand the changing commercial and legal sustainability landscapes and are experienced in advising clients how to manage greenwashing risk.

Clients choose us for our deep knowledge of this area, our collaborative approach in finding workable solutions, and our commitment to shaping industry standards. 

Recent experience includes:

Transportation and Trade

Aviation

• Exploring how the CORSIA carbon offsetting scheme can be used by the aviation industry to qualify for green/sustainability led finance.
• Advising banking clients and airline clients on ESG matters, including sustainable finance platforms and green finance regulations and the applicability of the EU ETS regulations.

Maritime

• Advised HSBC on its first shipping sustainability and transition-linked financing for Stem Shipping Co S.A in respect of a five-year US$13.6 million facility.
• Advised a subsidiary of Swire Pacific Offshore in connection with sustainability linked loans made to a company that owns and operates state-of-the-art turbine installation vessels.
• Advising KfW IPEX-Bank in respect of the $72 million GIEK backed fleet exhaust gas cleaning system retrofit financing for Quantum Pacific Shipping. The deal was named ‘Green Ship Finance Deal of the Year – East’.
• Advised ABN AMRO Bank N.V. and Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank on a US$160 million sustainability-linked loan. The loan, which was made available to a subsidiary of BW Epic Kosan Ltd., was secured to refinance 19 vessels for up to US$140 million, alongside an acquisition line of US$20 million to finance potential growth opportunities.

Rail and Road

• Advising on a green loan to finance green railcars.
• Advised on a sustainable bond issue for a vehicle leasing company based on financing pools of electric cars.

Real Estate

• Advising a newly established fund for residential development loans, including advice on green loans.
• Advised BNP Paribas on the structuring and documentation for a green loan. The green loan was made available after Vigeo Eiris, an independent international ESG research provider, confirmed compliance with the four core components of the LMA's Green Loan Principles (GLPs). A key part of the financing was the agreement around the green loan infrastructure and the related representation and undertakings. These included discussion around the LMA’s GLPs, the third-party verification opinions, the green loan framework, the green loan reporting obligations and the Poseidon principles (a global framework that ensures responsible ship finance portfolios).

Please also view our Real Estate, Maritime, Trade & Offshore, Aviation, and Rail & Road pages for more information on our capabilities.