Environmental Finance recognised Citi’s role as sole structurer, lead manager and voluntary carbon credit (VCC) off-taker for the $50 million emissions reduction-linked bond issuance by the World Bank to provide water purification in schools in Vietnam.

This project is expected to enable access to clean drinking water for two million children in Vietnam. The transaction demonstrates Citi’s ability to provide innovative structures and puts the bank at the forefront of driving sustainable and socially impactful business practices.

“Citi creates well-structured deals and has a knowledgeable team, skilled at working on new and unique deal structures such as the World Bank Vietnam emission reduction deal, including being the carbon credit off-taker,” cited the judges of the Environmental Finance Sustainable Debt Awards.

Citi closed its first VCC transaction in May 2022.

Along with this, the bank acted as the carbon credit offtaker for the project that is expected to generate approximately 26.6 million VCCs over an estimated 10-year period from the distribution of approximately 850,000 cookstoves and 364,000 water purifiers to participating households in Vietnam. The transaction was the first for Citi within an exponentially growing market.

“We are honoured to be recognised for the work that we do, advising our clients on sustainability and responsible finance. Citi is pioneering the carbon market in Vietnam and is implementing transactions that can serve as a model for replication,” said Ramachandran A.S., Citi Vietnam’s country officer.