The $80 million bond has been subscribed with a $40 million investment from IDB Invest and $40 million from FinDev Canada.

The resources from the bond placement of the bond have as their main purpose the conservation of the oceans through the promotion and expansion of access to credit for the sustainable production of shellfish, water and wastewater management, and solid waste management and the circular economy. The issuance also includes a just transition component by promoting the participation of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the supply/value chain in the different uses of funds.

This is the first blue bond that has incentives for meeting targets, most notably adherence to the Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD). This will be an important milestone for Banco Bolivariano, as it will be one of the first banks in the region to adhere to TNFD. In case of non-compliance with the targets, a fee will be charged to investors by the issuer.

As part of the bond issuance process, IDB Invest accompanied Banco Bolivariano with an advisory service aimed at defining its roadmap to align with the recommendations of the TNFD framework, training Banco Bolivariano’s clients in the measurement and reporting of environmental and social risks and in the definition of impact indicators, and designing the methodological framework for the use of funds that contains the criteria for the selection, monitoring and evaluation of projects, aligned with internationally accepted principles for blue issuance. IDB Invest also supported Banco Bolivariano in obtaining an independent verification of the methodological framework, known as a second party opinion, issued by Sustainalytics (a Morningstar company), an external consultant specialised in this type of projects.