Purpose

Seeking approval for necessary steps to enable
the delivery of a Local Climate Bond in financial year 2025/26, to
raise funding from private investors including local people in
support of the Council’s carbon reduction
activities.

Decision

RESOLVED that Cabinet authorises the
Executive Director: Resources in consultation with the Borough
Solicitor to enter into the necessary legal agreements with
Abundance Investment Ltd to develop a Local Climate Bond proposal
for Bracknell Forest, to be launched in December 2025.
 
RECOMMENDED that Council approves an
update to the Treasury Management Strategy to include Local Climate
Bonds, to enable the Council to raise funds from the public, as
proposed in paragraph 6.7.

Reasons for the decision

i.      
Local Climate Bonds (LCBs) represent an innovative form of
financing climate action which simultaneously help to engage
residents and support the retention of value from investments in
the local area which have now been successfully adopted by 15 local
authorities.
 

ii.    
Launching an LCB would respond to the Council motion of 13
September 2023, which invited the executive to “Explore the
feasibility of raising a Bracknell Forest Local Climate Bond
[…] to support decarbonisation projects throughout the
borough.”

Alternative options considered

The council could continue to raise capital
finance through borrowing from the Public
Works Loans Board to fund its capital
programme priorities, including those aimed at
reducing carbon emissions. This would have a
very similar cost of borrowing than an
LCB but would require less administrative work
for officers. Importantly, however,
this would not secure the expected benefits
from community climate engagement
and in the retention of economic benefit from
climate investments in the local area.