NIB launches new Sustainability-linked Loans financing Bond Framework to accelerate corporate sustainability transitions

• The Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) introduces a Sustainability-linked Loans financing Bond Framework (SLLB Framework), which enables the Bank to issue bonds to finance a portfolio of selected sustainability-linked loans (SLLs).
• This compliments and expands our sustainability offering to support our clients transition efforts while offering investors an opportunity to engage in Nordic-Baltic companies transition pathways.
• S&P Global Ratings confirms the framework’s alignment with the SLLB Guidelines published by ICMA through a Second Opinion.

Sustainability-linked loans are a tool for enabling corporate sustainability transitions. “By supporting our borrowers in their sustainability transition, sustainability-linked financing supports NIB in aligning its lending portfolio with the Paris Climate Agreement,” says André Küüsvek, NIB President & CEO.

NIB’ s new SLLB Framework allows NIB to issue Sustainability-linked Loans financing Bonds (SLLBs), with proceeds allocated exclusively to fund NIB-financed SLLs that meet defined eligibility and sustainability criteria, ensuring the materiality, ambitiousness, and credibility of the sustainability targets.

“The NIB SLLB Framework will enable investors to direct capital towards companies and sectors undergoing transition,” says Angela Brusas, Director, Funding and Investor Relations at NIB. “We’ve modelled this framework on the proven ‘use-of-proceeds’ concept from green bonds—investors know how it works and can trust its integrity,” Brusas adds.

Unlike traditional use-of-proceeds loans tied to specific assets, SLLs create financial incentives for broader corporate level sustainability efforts by linking loan terms to ambitious environmental key performance indicators and targets.

“With this framework, NIB can further strengthen its sustainability-linked financing, where material, credible, and ambitious targets address greenhouse gas emissions across all scopes, while also advancing other key sustainability goals for our borrowers,” says Zanda Krukle, Senior Sustainability Advisor at NIB.

The framework is aligned with the Sustainability-Linked Loans Financing Bonds Guidelines (SLLBG) published by ICMA and follows Approach 1, emphasising transparency and portfolio-level Key Performance Indicator (KPI) and Sustainability Performance Target (SPT) assessments. The framework is built around a single sustainability objective: Reducing climate change impacts.

A Second Opinion from S&P Global Ratings confirms that the framework is aligned with the latest Sustainability-Linked Loans Financing Bonds Guidelines (ICMA/LMA, 2024 with June 2025 Annex) and conceptually aligned with the Green Bond Principles (ICMA, 2025), and that this outcome is equivalent to complete adherence for this type of framework under their methodology.

For more information, please visit NIB’s Sustainability-Linked Loans page and ESG Library.

NIB is the international financial institution of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden. The Bank finances projects that improve productivity and benefit the environment of the Nordic-Baltic region. The Bank is headquartered in Helsinki with a regional hub in Riga. NIB has the highest possible credit rating, AAA/Aaa, with S&P Global Ratings and Moody’s.

For further information, please contact

Jens Hellerup, Senior Director, Head of Funding & Investor Relations, +358 96 181 1401 Jens.Hellerup@nib.int

Luca De Lorenzo, Vice President, Head of Sustainability & Mandate, +358 010 618 0297, Luca.DeLorenzo@nib.int