Presented at the 4th Global Infrastructure Basel Summit 21 & 22 May 2014.
Read more about the world leading platform for Sustainable Infrastructure Finance at www.gib-foundation.org.
Next Summit: 27 & 28 May 2015 in Switzerland
Meridiam - ESG Approach by Julia Prescot at GIB Summit
1. “Together with our investors and partners, our
mission is to deliver sustainable infrastructure that
improves the quality of people’s lives”
Global Infrastructure Basel
May 22 2014
2. 2
Meridiam in Brief
Meridiam is a global developer, investor and asset manager specializing in public
and community infrastructure delivered through public-private-partnerships
Investing through its 25-year funds, Meridiam takes a long-term view on
infrastructure investment
32
PROJECTS
AROUND THE WORLD
INCLUDING 8 IN NORTH AMERICA
110
EMPLOYEES
INCLUDING 50 WORKING IN PROJECT
COMPANIES
15 DIFFERENT NATIONALITIES
$3.8bn
OF ASSETS UNDER
MANAGEMENT
FOR PROJECTS WORTH
$33 BILLION INVESTMENT
3. 3
• Focused exclusively on equity financing for infrastructure projects
• Aligns the interest of our investors with those of our public authority partners
• Our investors are primarily public development banks and institutional investors
(e.g. pension funds and insurance companies)
Meridiam creates an alignment of interest between stakeholders
4. 4
Investment strategy
Meridiam targets investments in public infrastructure which deliver an added value to
the community (typically in the form of public-private partnerships)
Investment targets
Equity shareholdings of 20% to 100% - mainly primary (greenfield) projects,
including construction
Transportation Social / Public Buildings Environment
5. 5
RAILWAYROADSOCIAL ENVIRONMENTAL
CLOSED PROJECT PREFERRED BIDDER PROJECTK
E
Y
NEAH
PRESIDIO PARKWAY
LONG BEACH COURTHOUSE
NTE SEGMENTS 3A-3B
LBJ
PORT OF MIAMI TUNNEL
CRCHUM
NORTH TARRANT EXPRESS (NTE)
A334 MOTORWAY
A66 MOTORWAY
LIMERICK TUNNEL
SCOTTISH ROADS
NOTTINGHAM TRAM
UOH STUDENTS
ACCOMMODATION
LIFT
IOW ROAD
MAINTENANCE
SEA HSL
VÉLODROME
CNM HSL
L2 MARSEILLE
NAVIGATION DAMS
E18 MOTORWAY
A2 PHASE 1
A5 MOTORWAY
A2 PHASE 2
R1 MOTORWAY
VIENNA RING ROAD
ADANA HOSPITAL
CHATEAUROUX
GENDARMERIE
RENNES HOSPITAL
ANNEMASSE
HOSPITAL
Investment Portfolio - 32 projects across three funds
WATERLOO LRT
6. Meridiam is committed to ESG best practice and has included ESG as part of its
regular reporting to investors
Meridiam Commitment to ESG
• ESG is at the core of our investment and asset
management processes
• Meridiam Sustainable Development Charter
embraces:
o Principles of the 1948 Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.
o Principles of the International Labor
Organization.
o Principles of the United Nations Global
Compact.
o Equator Principles
o UNPRI
• Meridiam is also committed to building long-
term projects which benefit and gain support
from local communities
• ISO 9001: 2008 certification achieved for
responsible investment process to offer a unique
investment process and principles consistent
with the sustainability requirements of investors
ESG reporting policy
• An overview of ESG aspects for each project in
the portfolio is included as part of the quarterly
reporting
• In addition, Meridiam produces an annual ESG
report which includes:
• A presentation of Meridiam’s approach
and policies in this respect
• A detailed analysis of each project in the
portfolio
• Going forward, Meridiam is working on including
further quantitative indicators
6
8. 8
Integrating ESG into the investment process
ESG Preliminary Risk Assessment
• The projects are classified in three possible categories following their ESG preliminary risk
assessment
o Low activity risk
Little or limited social / environmental impact requiring no detailed due diligence or environmental
and social action plan
o Medium activity risk
Environmental and social impacts can be readily predicted, prevented and/or mitigated
o High activity risk
Potentially high social or environmental impact requiring detailed due diligence
• Examples
o Low risk: University of Hertfordshire
o Medium risk: Ijmuiden lock
o High risk: SEA
9. 9
Addressing ESG issues at board level
• At each meeting of the board convened for the review of a potential investment in a project, the
investment team presents an Investment Committee Note to the members that covers ESG and
provides an assessment of the ESG risk (ESIRE)
o Meridiam recently made an investment into the VNF (Voies Navigable) Dams project –
the ESG impact of this project was discussed at length at a recent board – not as much in
relation to the pricing but the acceptability as a project investment
• At each meeting of the board convened for the quarterly asset management review, ESG high
risk projects are subject to specific additional reporting focussing on ESG monitoring. The Tours-
Bordeaux high speed railway known as South Europe Atlantic HSL project has been thus subject
to this specific reporting to the board of Meridiam on a quarterly basis since 1 January 2013.
o An example of a recent initiative on this project is 1360 hectares being planted with trees
compensate for the ones cut down, and special heat exchangers helping to reduce global
energy consumption and carbon emissions
10. Planning of the road as a “green
motorway”
• 5 green bridges for wildlife
• ecological construction: use and
recycling of local wood and use of local
stone
• construction of a park and ride parking
at the intersection with a rail station at the
main junction from Kotka
• minimization of the noise caused by
traffic, by building 35km of noise barriers
• reduction of electrical consumption by
means of ‘smart’ control, solar energy
production and LED lighting. Utilization of
geothermal energy in the heating of
roadside service buildings
Example of applications in the E18 project in Finland
Actions undertaken Example of applications
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