Sweco converts €400M credit facility into sustainability-linked loan

Swedish architecture and engineering firm Sweco has amended an existing €400 million revolving credit facility into a sustainability-linked loan (SSL).

Sweco chief financial officer Olof Stålnacke said the firm would use the loan in development and acquisitions. The terms and conditions of the loan will be linked to Sweco’s targets of reducing carbon emissions and increasing gender equality among its workforce.

“Sustainability is integrated in everything we do at Sweco,” Stålnacke said. “It is therefore a natural step to link the company’s financing to our sustainability targets.”

According to Sweco, it has discussed the amendment with existing lenders — SEB, Swedbank and Svenska Handelsbanken. SEB acts as the sustainability coordinator for the loan conversion, having previously taken a similar responsibility with the Norwegian shipping company Odfjell.

Sweco aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040, halving the firm’s carbon dioxide emissions by the end of this decade. Additionally, per the company’s annual sustainability report, there was a 35 percent increase in the women workforce within Sweco in 2022.

Sweco promotes sustainability through projects

The company says it is currently working on 120,000 projects in the private and public sectors, with said projects promoting climate and social sustainability. Sweco president and CEO Åsa Bergman said the need to transition toward sustainability presented “excellent business opportunities” for the company.

The firm has established a Carbon Cost Management service to help clients reduce carbon emissions as much as possible. Sweco’s projects encompass the development of sustainable buildings and urban areas, green industry and transportation infrastructure.

Sweco has assisted urban areas in improving their resilience to various climate-related disasters. For example, it worked with Verviers, a city in Belgium that experienced major flooding in 2021, to help restore the city’s streets and add more green space.

The company supports various industries in adopting sustainable approaches within their operations. By offering technological solutions, Sweco ensures businesses have resource-efficient manufacturing facilities equipped with clean water and green energy.

Sweco has also worked with authorities in several regions in planning and designing transportation infrastructure, including in Sweden and the Netherlands.