PORT of Brisbane has locked in $500 million in sustainability-linked financing.

The port on Monday announced it had agreed to terms on the sustainability loan, to be financed by a syndicate of 10 banks.

The loan was negotiated as part of an $850 million syndicated bank loan transaction in November 2022. It will take effect from this month.

The $500 million loan is split across two terms: $240 million over a four-year term and $260 million over a six-year term.

It is linked to the port’s KPIs across emissions reduction, biodiversity and mental health first aid.

PBPL chief executive Neil Stephens said the deal would support the port’s ongoing investment and cement its place as an industry leader in sustainability.

“Sustainability at the Port of Brisbane is a whole-of-business strategy,” he said.

“Everything we do incorporates the principles sustainability with the long-term future of the business and its community at its core.

“Our ambitious sustainability targets across people, planet, prosperity and partnerships drive not only our day-to-day business activities, but our future planning and our interactions with stakeholders.

“Tying an important part of our financing structure to sustainability sends a clear signal to investors and the community that our commitment to the global transition to a more sustainable future is deep and unwavering.”

Mr Stephens highlighted the inclusion of mental health first aid as a focus area in the deal.

“We are working incredibly hard to drive down our scope 1 and 2 emissions, and we are working closely with our customer base as to how we can record and influence scope 3,” he said.

“We are also extremely proud of the role we play in managing the biodiversity of the port area. We work immediately adjacent to a Ramsar wetland site, and ensuring it thrives long into the future is a key goal of ours.

“But sustainability to the Port of Brisbane is also about the health and wellbeing of our workforce, which is why we have included ambitious goals on mental health first aid support.

“To be a sustainable business must mean having a healthy and engaged workforce, and we will be working hard to deliver on those commitments as soon as we can.”

PBPL’s sustainability-linked metrics include emissions reduction (scope 1 and 2), rehabilitation of 10 hectares of land in aggregate across FY24, FY25 and FY26, and achieving tier 2 (advanced workplace) status given by Mental Health First Aid Australia by FY25.

The port said the $500 million in financing would and will allow it to decrease funding costs if it meets these targets.