TUI’s New Climate Bonds: Environmental Progress or Greenwashing?
Photo Caption: Bayahibe Beach in La Romana, Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic is extremely vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Source: TUI. TUI
Skift Take
The popularity of TUI’s sustainability-linked bonds far surpassed the company’s projections. Will these SLBs be a step toward more sustainable tourism or a mechanism for greenwashing?
In February, TUI, one of the world’s largest tourism businesses, announced it would be offering sustainability-linked bonds.
TUI’s promise to investors: Loan us money, we’ll pay it back at a competitive interest rate and hit a stated ESG goal for lowering emissions. If we miss the goal, that interest rate goes up and you make more money.
The company hoped to sell about $318 million worth of the bonds, but there was plenty of demand and the total value hit $530 million.
Why It MattersOn paper, it seems like a win all around. For TUI, for investors, and for the environment.
But it’s not that simple. Sustainability-linked bonds are a new instrument and they haven’t been fully tested. There are still questions about how these goals are measured and regulated. In TUI’s case, scientists say that the goals will be tough to meet by its deadline.
“When they came out, I was thinking, Oh here goes anot
