World Bank issues AUD 130 m Sustainable Development Bond for good nutrition

06 / 12 / 2021

By Marwa Nassar - -

The World Bank issued an AUD 130 million 10-year Sustainable Development Bond while highlighting the importance of good nutrition to build human capital.

Meiji Yasuda Life, the sole investor in this transaction, invested in the bond ahead of the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit hosted by the Government of Japan on December 7-8, 2021 to promote global efforts to solve the nutrition crisis. Morgan Stanley & Co International plc is the sole underwriter and distributor of the bond.

World Bank bonds support the financing of sustainable development projects and programs in member countries across a range of sectors in line with its mission to end extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity.

This includes $6 billion in projects, of which $1.5 billion are in IBRD countries, helping to improve nutrition and addressing obesity and undernutrition. Good nutrition is critical to improving human capital — a central driver of sustainable growth and poverty reduction.

However, COVID-19 and other shocks are expected to have pushed 155 million people into acute food insecurity, with 28 million at risk of famine. Millions of children will also fall into malnutrition due to pandemic related service disruptions and not achieve their full growth potential, which leads to an estimated US$44 billion economic productivity loss a year. There is an urgent need to ensure that the world’s poor have access to the knowledge, resources, and services needed to achieve optimal nutrition.

“Malnutrition is one of the most pressing and persistent development challenges and its human and economic costs hit the poor, women, and children the hardest,” said Jingdong Hua, Vice President and Treasurer, World Bank. “We are thankful to investors for their continued support of the World Bank’s sustainable development mission and interest in tackling malnutrition.”

“We can tackle the global nutrition crisis through stronger collaboration between governments, communities, bilateral and international partners and the private sector,” said Mamta Murthi, Vice President for Human Development, World Bank. “Innovative financing driven by the private sector and investors can shape food markets towards healthier foods and is a key component of the solution.”

“Meiji Yasuda Life is working to extend people’s healthy life expectancy through its business activities focused on social issues related to the SDGs,”said Yoshimasa Osaki, Operating Officer, General Manager, Investment Planning & Research Dept., Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company. “This is a priority issue for us, and with this investment, we show support for the sustainable development activities, including those which address nutrition challenges in developing countries, that World Bank Sustainable Development Bonds support. Based on our philosophy of “peace of mind forever,” we will promote ESG investment from the perspective of contributing to the achievement of the SDGs, while ensuring profitability to return to our stakeholders as a responsible institutional investor.”

“Leading up to the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth Summit 2021, I am confident that investment by Japanese institutional investors in World Bank Sustainable Development Bonds will help raise awareness of the Summit, and highlight ongoing global efforts to solve nutrition problems and eradicate extreme poverty,” said Ryo Iwabuchi, Managing Director, Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities. “Morgan Stanley is honored to help with this investment as the sole arranger. We will continue to partner with important stakeholders such as the World Bank and Japanese institutional investors to contribute to the realization of a sustainable society.”

The World Bank is committed to supporting client countries in improving nutrition by building the knowledge base, providing technical assistance for policy and program design and prioritization, and financing the scale up for evidence-based nutrition interventions. In Indonesia, for example, the World Bank is supporting the Social Assistance Reform Program to improve the nutritional status of children 0-6 years of age through the expansion in coverage of the conditional cash transfer program and strengthen its delivery system with $200 million loan. In Guatemala, the World Bank is supporting the Crecer Sano: Guatemala Nutrition and Health Project, to reduce stunting among indigenous people, with an emphasis on those in the first 1,000 days of their lives through a $100 million loan.