Clifford Chance advises BNP Paribas on U.S.$120m Spekboom Restoration-Linked Bond

Global law firm Clifford Chance has advised BNP Paribas as arranger of a 14-year outcome bond issued by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development ("IBRD"), part of the World Bank Group. Interest on the bond is linked to carbon removal units ("CRUs") issued by a project designed, developed and operated by Imperative, a private-company specializing in ecosystem restoration, and sold to Amazon.

The CRUs will be generated by the project through the restoration of degraded thicket by the planting of Portulacaria afra (spekboom) cuttings throughout the Eastern Cape and Western Cape provinces of South Africa. This is also the first project financed by an outcome bond alongside co-financing from specialist carbon finance funds.

The successful execution of the deal further adds to Clifford Chance's established track record of advising clients on cutting edge natural capital transactions, including a number of previous carbon credit linked outcome bond transactions issued by IBRD.

The Clifford Chance team was led by partner Deborah Zandstra and senior associate James Kelton, with support from associate Hannah McLellan and trainee Chelsea Nkafu in the Debt Capital Markets Group.

Press Contact: Emma Cessford