Second-Party Opinion Download

Sustainalytics is of the opinion that the Basque Government’s Sustainability Bond Framework is credible and impactful, and aligns with the four core components of the Green Bond Principles 2017, Social Bond Principles 2017 and Sustainability Bond Guidelines 2017. This opinion is based on:

USE OF PROCEEDS

The eligibility categories for the use of proceeds are aligned with those recognized by the Green Bond Principles, the Social Bond Principles and Sustainability Bond Guidelines, and Sustainalytics considers that the projects address the regions’ social and environmental needs.

PROJECT EVALUATION/SELECTION

The Basque Government’s internal process in evaluating and selecting projects is aligned with market practice. The Basque Governments’ Sustainability Bond Committee, comprised of representatives of the Department of Finance and Economy, Environment, Territorial Planning and Housing; Employment and Social Policies, Health and Education, Economic Development and Infrastructure are responsible for project selection and evaluation.

MANAGEMENT OF PROCEEDS

The Basque Government will allocate the bonds’ proceeds directly to the eligible projects at settlement and has an internal system to track proceeds of the bonds, which is aligned with market practice.

REPORTING

The Basque Government intends to report on the allocation of proceeds on its website1 on an annual basis. In addition, the Basque Government is committed to reporting on the environmental or social impacts of its bonds annually in a dedicated Sustainability Bond impact report, including metrics such as CO2 emissions avoided, percentage for renewable energy mix, gender equality index, school enrolment and dropout rate, average housing price. In Sustainalytics’ view reporting on these metrics is in line with market practice.