SUSTAINABLE BONDS

In its role as facilitator of sustainability projects for Venice and its territory, the Foundation wants to promote the use of sustainable finance tools, providing a defined operational protocol together with the Department of Economics of Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and theKnowShapespin-off.
This protocol is implemented using the KnowShapeplatform, which makes the following steps operational and compliant with the legislation:

• the selection of sustainability projects;
• the definition of project financing characteristics (sustainability KPIs and their targets);
• assistance in the appraisal of sustainable funding (sustainability-linked loan, sustainability bond, etc.);
• monitoring the progress of the sustainability KPIs defined and adopted by the projects;
• support to the needs of assurance of design feasibility and related monitoring

It should be noted that, in projects facilitated by the Foundation, the operational protocol provides for the introduction of regulatory KPIs aimed at achieving specific ESG sustainability objectives for Venice. The aim is to maximize the impact that each project can have on the Venetian system.

By contacting info@vsf.foundation it is possible to learn more about the application of the operating protocol.

Summary of regulatory references for the preparation and financing of sustainability projects: the EU taxonomy.

The EU Taxonomy (EU Regulation 2020/852) provides that:

• Sustainability projects aimed at achieving the objectives set in the EU Taxonomy must be formulated and communicated to stakeholders through specific sustainability plans called «CapEx Plan»;
• ● Financial instruments that explicitly invest in economic activities aligned to the Taxonomy (financial instruments ex art. 5 of the EU Taxonomy) are the only sustainable investments that can be considered in the sustainability index of financial institutions: the Green Asset Ratio;
• Platform Recommendations on Data and Usability of the EU Taxonomy (11 October 2022).

“The Platform stresses the importance of Capex, Capex plans, and the role it plays in helping companies to shape their transition plans and access funding for them.

The KnowShape platform to apply the protocol was:

• directly shared with the European Commission which has incorporated it in a Technical Report highlighting the following aspects:

– “The solution is directly based on the text of the EU taxonomy and is one of the closest aligned solutions with the EU taxonomy.”

– “This closeness to the original legislative text is a clear added value in the way to implement the EU taxonomy and to reach the science-based objectives founded on technical screening criteria.“

– “… this ensures accurate and detailed data.“

• developed on the basis of the results of scientific research on EU Taxonomy also transposed by the Technical Report of the European Commission.