HP’s dedication to sustainability and human rights is remarkable. A June announcement from the company made that abundantly clear. HP’s all-new Sustainable Bond Framework bolsters the company’s commitment to social issues by offering bonds to fund internal sustainability, justice, and equity efforts.
Sustainability notes will be issued, allowing investors to support the company’s sustainability and social projects. The notes make up 50% of the company’s full debt offering, $1 billion of the $2 billion total.
This article looks at the Three Pillars of the Sustainable Bond Framework. It then addresses why bonds are being used for this program. Finally, it covers key elements of how the Sustainable Bond Framework will be managed – closing with an exclusive HP rebate opportunity.
3 Pillars of the Sustainable Bond Framework
The three pillars of the HP framework are climate action, digital equity, and human rights.
1. Climate Action
Here are the cornerstones of HP’s environmental / sustainability initiatives released in April 2021:
- By 2025, achieve zero waste and carbon neutrality.
- By 2030, counteract deforestation stemming from print service and product use of non-HP paper.
- By 2030, improve package and product circularity to 75 percent.
- By 2030, reach carbon neutrality with the supplies division.
- By 2040, throughout the value chain, get to net-zero emission of greenhouse gas.
2. Digital Equity
Efforts in this arena include the following:
- To provide relief for those impacted by COVID-19, HP delivered grants totaling $3 million and donated products worth $13 million. The company developed and shipped over 4 million supplies to healthcare providers to directly support frontline workers, leveraging its 3D printing network.
- HP is now halfway to its 2025 goal of helping 100 million people improve their learning outcomes. During the worldwide school shutdown, the company promoted digital equity and supported hybrid educational settings through targeted efforts.
3. Human Rights
Here are inclusion, diversity, and equity goals from HP, announced in May 2021:
- Every year, across every demographic within the HP Inclusion Index, score 90 percent or more.
- By 2030, hire or promote enough women to leadership posts to reach a 50/50 gender split.
- By 2030, have a workforce with a population of ethnic or racial minorities that hits or surpasses the group’s percentage of the overall labor market.
- By 2030, bring employee empowerment initiatives to 1 million employees.
- By 2030, get the proportion of women in engineering and technical roles up to at least 30 percent.
Why are Bonds Being Used?
Debt financing the program is an appealing move for HP because interest rates have hit record lows. Through bonds, the company can spark the interest of investors who care about sustainability and want a dividend.
Bond Framework: Committee, Final Approval & Reports
To understand how the Sustainability Framework will be managed, it helps to look at the committee, approval process, and annual reports:
- Committee – Finance, treasury, and sustainability professionals within HP will oversee the bond framework, ensuring the financing is used as intended. The committee will meet yearly to select projects in accordance with framework parameters.
- Final Approval – The Chief Sustainability and Social Impact Officer will directly approve any projects that are undertaken. This final internal approval process is an additional safeguard so that leadership can ensure sustainability notes proceeds go toward funding the right initiatives.
- Annual Report – Beginning in 2022, HP will release a framework report each year that details how many bonds have sold, a list of funded programs, and the expectations for each project. The report, called the Sustainable Bond Report, will be published on the HP website alongside the annual Sustainable Impact Report.
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