NatWest Group has become the first UK bank to issue a green bond where the proceeds are used to exclusively finance or re-finance electric vehicles.

The EV Green Bond has this week raised £631m from institutional investors in the UK, Europe and Asia.

It is intended to support the group’s asset finance arm, Lombard, which last year provided businesses with £2.3bn worth of funding for sustainable transport.

“Being the first UK bank to issue a green bond dedicated to financing and refinancing electric vehicles further underscores our commitment and ongoing support to our customers in their transition to net zero,” said Lombard head of climate transition Stuart Clark.

“The automotive sector is a key enabler for the UK economy and we are committed to continuing to work with the industry towards its decarbonisation goals through providing a range of funding and leasing solutions.”

NatWest Group says it will report on the allocation of the proceeds of the EV Green Bond and “provide an estimate of the resulting tailpipe CO2 emissions avoided”, based on management information and/or industry data, within 12 months of being issued.

The move is the latest green bond to be issued by the banking group, which launched its green, social and sustainability financing framework five years ago.

Since this launched it has issued three social bonds and three green bonds, worth a total of £3.9bn.

The impact of green bonds issued last year is an estimated 0.121m tonnes of C02 emissions avoided.

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