The net proceeds of about USD 986.9 million from its 20-year bond sale went to 12 ESG- related projects, including energy efficiency, green buildings and Covid-19 crisis response
Chinese e-commerce behemoth Alibaba Group recently released its 2021 Sustainability Bond Allocation and Impact Report to mark the first anniversary of its inaugural sustainability bond.
As the first tech company in China to issue sustainability bond, Alibaba is also among the first batch of Asian tech firms to engage in sustainability investment — one of Wall Street's fastest-growing businesses.
In a breakdown of its use of the proceeds, Alibaba said USD 451 million went to construction of energy-efficient data centers and USD 352 million was spent on erecting and refurbishing green buildings.
When it comes to the outlay for the "Social" purpose, Alibaba injected roughly USD 147 million into COVID-19 crisis response. This encompasses areas including medical equipment, testing kits, vaccines and other COVID-19 relief efforts.
The rest of the proceeds was employed to finance renewable energy and circular economy & design, with each receiving USD 36 million and USD 1 million, respectively.
Specifically, the largest portion of the proceeds was dedicated to energy-efficient data centers. Alibaba applied different technologies to ensure data centers operate in a way that minimizes energy consumption and pollution.
Alibaba's data centers in Zhangbei of Hebei Province in the north, Ulanqab in Inner Mongolia, and Nantong in eastern China's Jiangsu Province have all met the country's national standard for green data centers.
In the area of Green Buildings, which accounted for 35.7% of the bond's proceeds, the company has engineered 1.9 million square meters of LEED-certified floor area with the funds. Smart sensing and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies are utilized to monitor energy consumption in the office.
In fact, the bond issuance is only a small part of Alibaba's broader ESG work. In line with its pledges to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030, Alibaba said it has been working with ecosystem partners to halve carbon emissions compared to the levels in 2020.
Better still, in a more ambitious goal, the tech giant vowed to take the lead in spurring ecosystem partners to reduce 1.5 gigatons of carbon emissions by 2035.
Besides, Alibaba has established a Sustainability Committee under the board to lead its sustainability initiatives. It describes its overall ESG strategy as "decarbonization, green value chains and enabling low-carbon circular digital ecosystems."