Brazilian paper and pulp giant Suzano executed a $1.2 billion sustainability-linked export pre-payment facility last year with a 'landmark' biodiversity key performance indicator.

The facility was centred on the achievement of a singular key performance indicator (KPI): the number of hectares of priority conservation areas connected through the creation of ecological corridors across three Brazilian biomes: Amazon, Cerrado and Atlantic Rainforest. Based on a matrix which assesses land permeability by wildlife, it is prioritising fragments which are larger, "possess greater biodiversity value" and maximise species mobility.

The KPI is monitored annually, with a measurable yearly growth curve that demonstrates periodic progress based on the number of hectares of connected areas.

Judges of the Environmental Finance Sustainable Debt Awards praised the loan as a "landmark innovation in sustainability-linked finance, by incorporating a measurable KPI...the direct linkage between financial performance and quantifiable biodiversity outcomes addresses one of the most complex sustainability challenges.

"The structure meaningfully advances the sustainability-linked loan market beyond climate-only metrics", they concluded.

Carried out through Suzano International Finance, the transaction brought together 16 lenders. The sustainability-linked finance framework received a second-party opinion from S&P Global