Industrial and Commercial Bank of ChinaLimited

THIRD-PARTY
ASSESSMENT

2020 Green Bond Report©

Beijing Zhongcai Green Financing Consultant Ltd.

0

THIRD-PARTY ASSESSMENTFORIndustrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited
2020 Green Bond Report

Beijing Zhongcai Green Financing Consultant Ltd.
10th December 2021

Contents
PART Ⅰ GENERAL INFORMATION .........................................1PART Ⅱ GENERAL INFORMATION OF GREEN BOND.........2PART Ⅲ MANAGEMENT OF PROCEEDS .................................6
PART Ⅳ USE OF PROCEEDS ......................................................7PART Ⅴ ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS OF GREEN BOND ..8PART Ⅵ CONCLUSION ...............................................................9PART Ⅶ APPENDIX....................................................................10PART I

GENERAL INFORMATION

General Information for This Assessment
Third-Party Assessment
Institution

Beijing Zhongcai Green Financing Consultant Ltd. ismember of China’s National Association of Financial
Market Institutional Investors, as well as approved as aninternational green verifier of Climate Bond Initiative.

Type of Assessment

Annual Report Assessment

Main Content

1.
2.
3.
4.

Assessment Duration

20th November to 10th December 2021

Assessor

Zhou Jieyv, Li Zheng, Qiao ShinanFinal Assessor

CUI Ying, Liu NanMethods

Review relevant Use of Proceeds documents, internal
policy and/or processes of issuer etc., interviews with themanagement team and stakeholders through on-site
interview, phone-call and email

Role of Assessment Institution

Provide an independent, objective and impartial
assessment based on the documents collected from theIssuer.

Documents provided by theIssuer

See the Appendix

General Information of Green Bonds
Management of Proceeds
Use of Proceeds
Environmental Benefits of Green Bonds

1

PART II

GENERAL INFORMATION OF GREEN BOND

2.1. General Description
As the end of the reporting period, ICBC issued five dual-currency green bonds throughLuxembourg Branch, London Branch, ICBC Asia, Singapore Branch and Hongkong Branchwith an aggregate issuance amount of US$9.83 billion equivalent.
2.2. General Information of Green Bond
During the reporting period, general information of the green bonds is indicated as below:

Issue dateIssuance
AmountLuxembourg
BranchLondon
BranchICBC Asia

28th
September2017

5th June 2018

13th2018

USD
850,000,000

USD
1,000,000,00
0USD
400,000,000

EUR
1,100,000,00
0Listing

EUR
500,000,000

Luxembourg LondonGreenStock
Exchange
Exchange
LGX( LuxembourgStockExchange)

Useof To finance or refinance
Proceeds“Eligible Green Assets” inaccordance with certain
prescribed eligibility criteria
as described under the ICBC
Green Bond Framework 1 ,1Singapore
BranchJune 16th2019

HKD
2,600,000,00
0

Hongkong
BranchApril 9h September
2019

USD
1,500,000,00
0
EUR
500,000,000
CNY
1,000,000,00
0USD
2,500,000,00
0
HKD
4,000,000,00
0
CNY
1,000,000,00
0

Hong Kong Singapore
Stock
Stock
Exchange
Exchange

Hong Kong

To finance or refinance“Eligible Green Assets” inaccordance with certain
prescribed eligibility criteria
as described under the ICBC
Green Bond Framework,

To finance orrefinance“EligibleGreenAssets”
withintheStock
Exchange

For more details check http://www.icbc-ltd.com/ICBCLtd/投资者关系/绿色金融/ and Appendix【2】2including renewable energy,
low carbon and low emission
transportation,energyefficiency and sustainable
water
andwastewater
management in the region
and countries around the Beltand Road.

SecondopinionExternal
review
opinionproviderCertificationincluding renewable energy,
low carbon and low emission
transportation,energyefficiency and sustainablewaterandwastewater
management.

"GuangdongHong KongMacao
Greater BayArea"asdescribed
undertheICBC GreenBondFramework,
includingrenewableenergy, lowcarbon andlow emission
transportation,energy
efficiency
andsustainable
water
and
wastewater
management.

Rated as “Dark Green” 2 by the Center for International Climate Research(CICERO) in Oslo in accordance with the Green Bond Principles
Beijing Zhongcai Green Financing Consultant Ltd. issued an external review
assessment report for the ICBC Green Bond Framework against Chinese
standards3

Received Pre-issuance and Received
NonePost-issuancecertification Pre-issuance4from CBI
andPostissuancecertification
fromtheReceived
Pre-issuanceandPostissuancecertification
fromtheFor more details check http://www.icbc-ltd.com/ICBCLtd/投资者关系/绿色金融/ and Appendix【3】For more details check http://www.icbc-ltd.com/ICBCLtd/投资者关系/绿色金融/ and Appendix【4】4For more details check http://www.icbc-ltd.com/ICBCLtd/投资者关系/绿色金融/ and Appendix【5】【6】【7】【8】
32
3

Hong Kong
Quality
Assurance
Agency(HKQAA)5

Hong Kong
Quality
Assurance
Agency(HKQAA)6

The information above is verified through the public documents and database from theWind.

5
6For more details check Appendix【15】For more details check Appendix【15】42.3. Awards
As the end of the reporting period, the Luxembourg Branch green bond was awarded the"Best ESG Deal" for 2017 from Finance Asia , the " Best SRI Bond " for 2017 from IFR Asia ,"Best Green Bond" award by The Asset, “Award for Innovation in the Use of Proceeds fromGreen Bonds" for 2018 from Environmental Finance, Global Capital's the “2018 Asia PacificGreen/SRI Bond Deal of the Year” award; the London Branch green bond is awarded “LargestEmerging Markets Certified Climate Bond in 2018” by CBI; The Singapore Branch green bond
was awarded the “Best FIG Bond” by The Asset; And the Hong Kong Branch green bond wasawarded the “Deals of the Year 2020 Asia Pacific” by The Banker and the“Outstanding Award
for Green Bond Issuer - Largest Single Green Bond (Banking Industry)” by HKQAA.
The information above is verified through the public disclosure7.

7 https://www.financeasia.com/News/441270,winners-emfinanceasiaems-achievement-awards-part-2.aspx

http://www.ifrasia.com/sri-bond/21320981.article
https://www.theasset.com/awards/regional-deals-2017-fixed-income
https://www.environmental-finance.com/content/awards/green-bond-awards-2018/winners/award-forinnovation-use-of-proceeds-icbc.html
http://www.globalcapital.com/article/b19tcwdcbrq2ks/sri-award-winners-2018-revealed
https://cbi19.climatebonds.net/past-events/2019https://www.thebanker.com/Awards/Deals-of-the-Year/Deals-of-the-Year-2020-Asia-Pacific?ct=true
https://www.theasset.com/awards/country-awards-2019-deals-north-asia
5

PART IIIMANAGEMENT OF PROCEEDS

3.1. Use of Proceeds
The proceeds raised from five ICBC green bonds have been fully used to finance andrefinance eligible green assets that would promote the transition to low-carbon，environmental
pollution prevention and control and sustainable economy and provide environmental
sustainability and substantial environmental benefits. The quantifiable environmental benefits
and rationale behind it have been provided. Eligible green assets are selected from domestic
and overseas branches of ICBC.
3.2. Categories of Projects
According to CICERO’s Second Opinion on ICBC’s Green Bond Framework8, and thethird-party verification from Beijing Zhongcai Green Financing Consultant Ltd. for ICBC
Green Bond Framework 9 , there is no definitive evidence representing any inconformity
occurred in the bond management, green projects selections, or categories of projects from thedisclosure of the report.
3.3. Policy Execution
Based on the interviews with issuer and management team through phone-calls and emails,
the disclosed green bonds complied with ICBC Green Bond Framework in terms of theprocedures of bond issuance and management of proceeds.

89For more details check http://www.icbc-ltd.com/ICBCLtd/投资者关系/绿色金融/ and Appendix【3】For more details check http://www.icbc-ltd.com/ICBCLtd/投资者关系/绿色金融/ and Appendix【4】6PART IV

USE OF PROCEEDS

4.1. Plan of Proceeds Utilization
The five disclosed green bonds raised US$9.83 billion equivalent in total, mainly used torefinance the renewable energy industry, the low carbon and low emission transportationindustries and sustainable water and wastewater management. Referred to the Certification ofpre-issuance from CBI and Certification of post-issuance from CBI, along with the relevant
documents, no evidence represents any inconformity to ICBC Green Bond Frameworkoccurred in the use of proceeds.10
4.2. Management of Unallocated Proceeds
As of the end of the reporting period, there is no unallocated proceeds.
4.3. Any accident causing major pollution liability or any other environmental violations
As of the end of the reporting period, no explicit evidences from public sources represent
any material environmental risks associated with the projects funded by the proceeds of any
five green bonds issued by ICBC.

For more details check http://www.icbc-ltd.com/ICBCLtd/投资者关系/绿色金融/ and Appendix【9】【10】【11】【12】【13】【14】710

PART VENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS OF GREEN BOND

5.1. Basis of Calculation
This assessment adopts the EIB CO2 method 11 to calculate the carbon reduction fromrenewable energy. In addition, to evaluate low carbon and low emission transportation projects,
the assessment use both China Railway Emission Parameters12, which is published by UIC andIEA, and EIB CO2 method.
5.2. The Environmental Benefits of the Report
The total annual carbon emission reductions of green asset financed by the five green
bonds issued by ICBC are 26,122,395 tons, of which, the total annual carbon emission
reductions of renewable energy projects are 9,610,541 tons, and the total annual carbon
emission reductions of low carbon and low emission transportation projects are 16,511,854 tons.
Sustainable water management projects increase the annual water supply by 450,000 cubic
meters, and the annual wastewater treatment capacity by 35,640,700 cubic meters.
The environmental benefits provided by the report is calculated from existing project
details13, and the assessors can verify and confirm that the calculation process is reliable,
and the result is accurate. Therefore, the environmental benefits data could be trusted.
5.3. Typical green project case analysis
The three typical green projects disclosed in the report are shown as follows:⚫
⚫
⚫

Low carbon and low emission rail transportation from Hong Kong branch green bondSolar Power Project from Hong Kong Branch green bondUrban water conservation projects from Singapore Branch green bond
Verified through Open access to project information and Third-Party
Environmental Reports 14 , the three disclosed green projects are truly described; therespective environmental benefits are accurate and acceptable.

For more details checkhttps://www.eib.org/attachments/strategies/eib_project_carbon_footprint_methodologies_en.pdf
12 For more details check https://uic.org/IMG/pdf/handbook_iea-uic_2017_web3.pdf
13 For more details check Appendix【9】【11】【12】【13】14 http://cr16g.crcc.cn/art/2017/6/30/art_4450_689632.html
http://www.xuwen.gov.cn/xxgk/zfxxgkzl/zdlyxxgkzlbzdw/hjbhxxgkssthjjxwfj/jsxmjghbysxx/content/post_4593
51.html
http://www.ccgp.gov.cn/cggg/dfgg/gzgg/202009/t20200916_15079155.htm
118

PART VI

CONCLUSION

According to the review of the relevant documents provided by issuers and thecommunication through phone-calls and emails with the relevant departments and persons incharge of the green bond issuance, no definitive evidence represents any inconformity orinaccuracy occurred in the report against The Green Bond Principles 2021 of ICMA and The
Green Bond Catalogue (2021) of China. Based on the disclosed General Information of Bonds,
Management of Proceeds, Use of Proceeds and Environmental Benefits of Green Bonds, finally,
conclusions are drawn as below:
1.

Disclosure of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited 2020 Green Bond Reportis accurate and acceptable.

2.

Use of proceeds disclosed in Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited 2020
Green Bond Report complied with The Green Bond Principles 2021 of ICMA and The
Green Bond Catalogue (2021) of China. Pre-issuance Certification and Post-issuance
Certification of both London branch and Luxembourg branch green bonds complied with
the Climate Bond Standard of Climate Bond Initiative.

3.

Environmental benefits in the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited 2020
Green Bond Report are accurate and acceptable.

Beijing Zhongcai Green Financing Consultant Ltd. (SEAL)：

Signature of LEAGAL REPRESENTATIVE：

Signature of Evaluator:

Signature of Reviewers:

Issue Date ： 10th December 2021

9PART VII

APPENDIX

Supporting documents from Stakeholders including Issuer, etc.：
【1】
【2】
【3】
【4】

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited 2020 Green Bond Report
ICBC Green Bond Framework
CICERO, Second Opinion on ICBC’s Green Bond Framework
Beijing Zhongcai Green Financing Consultant Ltd., Third-party Assessment Reportof ICBC Green Bond Framework

【5】
【6】
【7】
【8】
【9】
【10】
【11】
【12】
【13】
【14】
【15】

CBI Certification for ICBC Luxembourg Green Bonds, 2017
CBI Certification for post-issuance of ICBC Luxembourg Green Bonds, 2018
CBI Certification for ICBC London Green Bonds, 2018
CBI Certification for post-issuance of ICBC London Green Bonds, 2019
Manuscript of Environmental Benefits of ICBC Asia Green Bond
Voucher of independent deposit of ICBC Green Bond
Manuscript of Environmental Benefits of Luxembourg Branch Green Bond
Manuscript of Environmental Benefits of Singapore Branch Green Bond
Manuscript of Environmental Benefits of Hong Kong Branch Green Bond
Basic Information of London Branch Green Bond
Certification for ICBC Asia and Hong Kong Branch Green Bond by the Hong KongQuality Assurance Agency

10