(Bloomberg) —
Toyota Motor Corp. said it plans to sell as much as 500 billion yen ($4.7 billion) in yen and foreign currency sustainability bonds, in what would be one of the biggest offerings globally in the booming market to fund environmental and social projects.
The proceeds from the sale of what Toyota is calling “Woven Planet Bonds” will be used for projects such as the development of zero emission and assisted mobility vehicles, and increased use of renewable energy, the Japanese automaker said in a statement.
Issuance of environmental, social and governance bonds has soared in Japan in line with the global jump in demand for the debt, with deals climbing 14% to 319.9 billion yen so far this year, a record for the period, according to Bloomberg-compiled data. A $4.7 billion equivalent sale by Toyota would be among the biggest sustainable bond offerings by any company worldwide, the data show.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has pledged to decarbonize Japan by 2050 and ban the sale of new gasoline-only vehicles by the mid-2030s. A focus on reducing carbon emissions has swelled among companies in the nation following Suga’s October pledge.
Read more: Japan Pledges Net-Zero Emissions by 2050 Without Clear Roadmap
The funds that Toyota raises will also be used for its Woven City project: a 175-acre high-tech, sensor-laden metropolis at the base of Mount Fuji in Japan. The city would essentially function as a laboratory to test Toyota’s latest smart technologies, including autonomous vehicles, personal mobility and smart homes.
Read more: Can Toyota Turn Its Utopian Ideal Into a ‘Real City’?
–With assistance from Shiho Takezawa and Go Onomitsu.
© 2021 Bloomberg L.P.
