EIA Reserve Matters

The amended EIA regulation came into force on the 1st September 2008.

These Regulations amend the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (England and Wales) Regulations 1999 (the 1999 Regulations”) so that they apply to applications for subsequent approval of matters under conditions attached to planning permissions.

In 2006, the House of Lords and the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that the UK had failed to transpose the EIA Directive correctly, because the Regulations implementing the EIA Directive allowed only for EIA before the grant of outline planning permission and not at the later stage when reserved matters were approved.

The ECJ ruled that where development cannot be carried out until details relating to reserved matters are approved by a local planning authority, the decisions to grant outline planning permission and to approve the reserved matters must be considered to constitute, as a whole, a multi-stage development consent for the purposes of the EIA Directive. If it became apparent during the course of the second stage that the project was likely to have significant effects on the environment (for example, where those effects were not identifiable until then) then an environmental impact assessment was required. Since the Regulations then in force did not allow for EIA to be required at that stage, they did not fully implement the EIA Directive.

These Regulations amend the 1999 Regulations to close the loophole identified by the ECJ. As well as applying to applications for approval or reserved matters and other matters under a condition, they also apply to ROMP (review of mineral permissions) applications.

China drafts environmental guidelines for firms investing abroad

China is drafting environmental guidelines for companies investing in or providing economic aid to overseas countries.

 The work is being undertaken by the Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning (CAEP), in cooperation with the Global Environmental Institute (GEI) and the University of International Business and Economics. The first draft is now being discussed, the GEI said.

 A report released by the CAEP last week said the country lacked comprehensive environmental protection policies in its overseas projects, although investment had been expanding.

 Statistics show that between 2002 and 2006, China’s overseas non-financial direct investment grew by 60 percent annually. By the end of 2006, 5,000 Chinese companies had set up nearly 10,000 directly invested firms and invested $90.6 billion in 172 countries.

China’s overseas investment and aid mainly focuses on exploring oil and other resources, processing, manufacturing, and construction in African and Southeast Asian countries. Without proper management, such projects are likely to cause environmental problems, the report said.

In April, several companies, including China Mobile, Haier Group, and China International Marine Containers, joined “Caring for Climate”, a voluntary UN initiative to combat global climate change. Liu Meng, director of UN Global Compact China Office, told China Daily earlier that these companies’ participation suggests that China’s business sector is catching up with its international counterparts on climate issues.

China National Petroleum Corporation, the country’s largest oil producer, has pledged to stick to stringent environmental requirements before deciding on overseas projects.

Currently, only four banks in China have either formulated independent environmental standards for financing, or have joined the United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative to reduce environmental risks.

Minimum Requirements for Equator Principle Reporting and one year of EPII Implementation and

A template which sets out the minimum reporting requirements for EPII has also been released. This covers:

• An annual report;
• The number of projects screened each year;
• The category and number of projects reviewed;
• A discussion on EP implementation (although the scope of this is completely up to the bank concerned).

• The template also contains suggested formats for providing regional and sectoral information, but this is not obligatory.

The template certainly is minimal and unsurprisingly many organisations and shareholders will be expecting the banks to provide substantially more information than is set out in the requirements. Many EP banks are already providing far more information and are setting an excellent example for those that have signed up to the principles more recently.

On May 14, 26 out of 51 EPFIs met to discuss lessons learned and challenges related to EPII implementation.

6 recent adopters attended the event and made a significant contribution to the success of the meeting. EPFIs have been implementing the new Principles for nearly one year following their revision and launch in London last July. Bank of America hosted the day-long event in Washington, DC. Issues related to EPFI governance, disclosure and transparency related to Principle 10, and other items were discussed. This EPFI meeting was then followed by a 2-day series of meetings at the International Finance Corporation (IFC’s) “Community of Learning” event which focused on lessons learned from application of the IFC Performance Standards. EPFIs interacted with and heard from IFC senior management and staff, and also had the opportunity to interact with a number of environmental representatives of Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) from across the globe.

A-Z Guidelines to Successful Public Private Partnership

This seminar is being held by the European Public Private Partnership Centre in Hungary. On the 27th – 29th November 2006, at the Corinthia Aquincum Hotel, Budapest.

I am delighted to have been invited to present on ‘The need for environmental and social risk management for PPP Projects’.

The European Public-Private Partnership Center (EPPPC) was established to serve as a know-how center for public sector bodies, private entrepreneurs, investors and other industry players in the growing international marketplace of PPPs. Their state aim is to fully embrace the idea of PPP and educate the above representatives by offering them comprehensive training services as well as widespread expertise through consulting.

Link to the Training Workshop Brochure

Investment in emerging markets – opportunities for risk management and sustainability

Until the last few years, the conventional view towards investing in emerging markets was that sustainability considerations too often appeared subordinate to the quest for economic growth. Emerging markets are now seen by many in the investment community as a place where good rewards can be earned.
EIRIS had just completed a review of the opportunities for responsible investment in emerging markets, which reveals the possibilities for diversification and risk management for investors as well as wider potential gains for sustainability.

The report identifies factors hindering Socially Responsible Investment in emerging markets:

• perceived lack of consistent and widespread good corporate governance
• continuing government ownership and control such as with many large listed Asian companies that can be a critically important variable in Environmental and Social Governance performance
• the retention of large controlling interests by families in many emerging market companies that limit the rights and influences of minority shareholders.
• even where governance, environmental or labour regulations are strong in some countries, enforcement is sometimes weak.
• doubts about the honesty of some disclosed information or its credibility. For instance, in relation to ISO14001, the reputation of those providing the certification is crucial for trusting the information disclosed.
• difficulties in engaging with companies in emerging markets. Although language may be a factor in some cases, the corporate culture of many companies is not yet responsive or attuned to international investors especially relating to environmental and social issues.
• a limited number of third party organisations in these countries or regions to undertake the research required on companies. The Iinternational Finance Corporation is undertaking initiatives to facilitate and increase this research capacity.

New Report on Conflict-Sensitive Business Practice (CSBP)

A new report Conflict-Sensitive Business Practice: Engineering Contractors and their Clients, has been prepared by Engineers Against Poverty and International Alert

Contractors operating in unstable states face a range of conflict risks. Oil, gas and mining projects, which frequently have significant contractor involvement, can inadvertently trigger or sustain violence, or become the focus of resentment themselves. Produced in partnership with Engineers Against Poverty, this guidance note is addressed both to engineering contractors and their clients. It examines some key issues related to conflict, contractors and conflict sensitivity, and introduces conflict-sensitive business practice (CSBP) – steps through which these issues can be understood and managed.

The report outlines some of the key costs of conflict to projects, which include:
Direct costs:

• Security – Higher payments to state/private security firms; staff time spent on security management
• Risk management – Insurance, loss of coverage, specialist training for staff, reduced mobility and higher transport costs
• Material – Destruction of property or infrastructure
• Delays – Lost time through site blockades or disruption of materials and services
• Capital – Increased cost of raising capital
• Personnel – Kidnapping, killing and injury; stress; recruitment difficulties; higher wages to offset risk; cost of management time spent protecting staff
• Reputation – Consumer campaigns, risk-rating, share price, competitive loss
• Litigation – Expensive and damaging law suits

Indirect costs:

• Human – Loss of life, health, intellectual and physical capacity
• Social – Weakening of social capital
• Economic – Damage to financial and physical infrastructure, loss of markets
• Environmental – Pollution, degradation, resource depletion
• Political – Weakening of institutions, rule of law, governance movements

Barclays, believes that business ethics are key ingredient to their record financial performance

John Varley, Group CEO of Barclays, explains why business ethic are so important to branding and maintaining good relationships with stakeholders – customers, employees, regulators and investors. Barclays sets out how these considerations have made an inherent contribution towards to their ongoing strong financial performance.

Imagine that you’re a big organisation, making good returns on capital. You can make choices that are irresponsible … but lucrative. But bit-by-bit, as the values that bind your organisation together are compromised through irresponsible choices, and the trust of your customers is diluted, your brand will suffer. And let’s be sure about this: brands are far more important to stock market value and sustained growth, than short term profits.

Beyond financial results

• In February of 2005, Barclays reported a record financial performance.
• A few weeks ago I was able to report another record performance – in the area of corporate responsibility.
• Many of you will have seen the recent results of the Business in the Community “Companies that count” index in the Sunday Times. This year we’re 3rd – our highest ever ranking.

Our top three ranking reveals something important: a strong performance as a responsible corporate citizen does not conflict with strong financial performance.

Business-wide responsibility

We can’t (and shouldn’t) separate our corporate responsibility activity from our daily business. Nor can we separate corporate responsibility from our brand. That’s because the people we seek to reach with our brand expect us to be responsible.

Our stakeholders – customers, employees, regulators and investors are becoming more sensitive to our changing world. They are intensely interested in ethical, environmental and social issues, and business conduct. For customers making buying decisions, corporate responsibility is a point of difference. For talented people looking to move organisations, corporate responsibility is a point of difference.

Really making a difference

Another example of where we have taken an important lead is our involvement as a founder member of the Equator Principles. The Equator Principles form a framework for a thorough independent environmental – and social – assessment of the impact of project financing, for major infrastructural programmes, such as dams and pipelines and mining.

We’re a leading provider of financing of this sort. So it’s an important area of business for us. But we have made a choice about how we are going to participate in this business. And by doing so, we are influencing other participants. More and more governments and construction companies are making the same kind of choice.

They realise that financing will be easier to obtain if the project complies with the Equator Principles.

Extracts from the text of John Varley’s speech on 31st May at the Fifth Ethical Corporation Summit in London

Rachael Bailey discusses how to manage environmental and social risk in project finance

Applying the Equator Principles can dramatically improve the environmental and social risk profile of project financings. But their application can often be improved. Extract from the Article by Rachael Bailey and colleagues:

In the three years since their introduction, the Equator Principles have driven substantial environmental and social performance improvements in project finance. These voluntary guidelines, which essentially involve private sector banks committing to apply World Bank/International Finance Corporation (IFC) social and environmental risk management procedures to projects which they finance, have been adopted by institutions accounting for more than 80% of project finance flows.

There is now widespread awareness of the benefits of using the appropriate expertise at the outset to manage potential environmental and social risks throughout the project cycle, and thereby secure better financial terms at financial close and syndication. Ensuring that environmental and social risks are fully under control now plays a key part in securing confidence in project finance deals.

The full article can be viewed on the Equator Principles Website or the Environmental Finance website.

A copy of this article is available here for downloading. ef7equator_bailey_p28-30-v2.pdf

Interesting Presentations on the Environmental Responsibility of Banks

UNEP FI have made the following presentations available on their website, following a conference on sustainable banking. The presentations contain valuable insights into the benefits of environmental risk management and green products in relation to the topics listed below:

UNEP FI and the two Greek sustainability leaders Eurobank EFG and Emporiki, hosted a one-day conference on sustainable banking. UNEP FI was delighted to welcome a representative of the European Commission as a keynote speaker at the event. The event was supported by the EBRD.

Presentations

• Opening remarks
  Paul Clements-Hunt, UNEP Finance Initiative
• The role of the financial sector in achieving a better environment – EU perspectives and initiatives
  Jorge Pinto Antunes – European Commission
• Eurobank EFG’s motivation for environmental responsibility
  Nikos Pavlidis, Eurobank EFG
• What is the motivation for a Greek Bank to take environmental responsibility? What are the business areas where environmental concern plays a role?
  Evangelos Athanasiou, Emporiki Bank
• Environmental regulations with relevance for financial institutions: the Greek and European legal framework
  Fotis Kourmousis, Union of Environmental Scientists of Greece
• The materiality of social and environmental issues to equity pricing
  Gianluca Manca, Sanpaolo IMI Asset Management
• Greening the banking products
  Dimitris Starogiannis, Eurobank EFG
• Integrating environmental criteria to credit policy
  Stella Kovlaka, Emporiki Bank
• Responsibility for Brownfields Revitalisation
  Sultana Gruber Unicredit/Bank Austria Creditanstalt
• EBRD – Your partner in eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia
  Mark Rachovides, EBRD
• Environmental risk assessment – Guidance from the EBRD
  Mark King, EBRD
• Climate Change: Scientific basis and risks for the finance sector
  Dr. Hadjinicolaou, University of Athens,
• Meeting investors’ expectations
  Esther Garcia, CoreRatings – DNV

Botnia Pulp Mills – International Court of Justice rules against the suspension of construction works

This decision can be expected to reassure those Financial Institutions that are considering financing the Paper Mills. The ICJ has clearly scrutinised the evidence and does not consider that there is a sufficiently robust basis to stop the construction of the mills. This project may yet benefit from the advice and guidance that is generally provided when an Equator Principles Institution finances a project.

The ICJ certainly recognises the value in reserving judgement on the environmental and social performance of a project and thereby allowing the opportunity for improvements, should they be needed. The Court stated that it “is not at present convinced that, if it should later be shown that Uruguay had failed, prior to the present proceedings or at some later stage, fully to adhere to these provisions, any such violations would not be capable of being remedied at the merits stage of the proceedings”.

In the ongoing papermill conflict between Argentina and Uruguay, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled 14 votes to 1 that “the circumstances of the case are not such as to require the indication of a provisional measure ordering the suspension by Uruguay of the authorization to construct the pulp mills of the suspension of the actual construction work”. The Court argued in its 21 page verdict published today, that Argentina failed to offer substantial evidence to prove that during construction of the papermills, contamination and danger to local citizens was imminent and irreversible.

Equator Principles improve financial performance – the evidence is clearer than ever

There are increasing indications that banks are successfully distinguishing themselves by how they handle the environmental and social dimension of their operations. Those banks such as HSBC, ABN AMRO and Barclays, to name a few, but by no means all, have made an impressive effort to establish themselves as leaders in this field.

The real indicators of this are the increased shareholder support for banks they consider to be more sustainable and the rapid growth in Socially Responsible Assets. This is emphasised by shareholders efforts to place pressure on banks involvement in particular deals.

A little while ago, private banks cared about sustainability because it was good for their reputation and brand. Now it is about their bottom line. There is emerging evidence of a correlation between good environmental and social behavior and good financial performance. We find plenty of examples of this in IFC’s own portfolio. Key Results In a recent survey of bankers, IFC found that 65 percent reported tangible benefits from sustainable policies.

The Sustainable Banking Awards co-organized by the Financial Times and IFC have shown that banks are using sustainability as a driver for business growth and asset quality. The Sustainability Yearbook 2006, published jointly by Sustainable Asset Management and PriceWaterHouseCoopers, says that it has been able to a show a conclusive link between performance on sustainability issues and financial performance, and a correlation to creation of shareholder value.

This trend has not gone unnoticed by private investors: In the United States, the Social Investment Forum published a report in January of this year which found that socially responsible assets grew faster than the entire universe of managed assets in the United States during the past 10 years.

By Lars Thunell, Executive Vice President
International Finance Corporation, World Bank Group July 6, 2006

Banktrack feels new Equator Principles could be better – but are they failing to see the bigger picture?

It is interesting to consider some of the NGO views on the revisions to the Equator Principles. BankTrack (a network of civil society organisations and individuals tracking the operations of the private financial sector) have highlighted what they consider to be the key improvement to the Equator Principles, together with their main areas of concern:

BankTrack acknowledges the improvements in the new version of the revised Equator Principles (EP2), such as the expansion of the Principles to cover financial advising and the lower threshold, but also believes that the EP2 fail to live up to their potential. BankTrack’s suggestion to regularly review the Principles with an eye toward continuous improvement, was taken on board in the revision and is very much welcome.

However BankTrack feel that:

• EP banks must adopt more robust governance and implementation systems, such as a procedure for dealing with “free riders” and a regular reporting requirement.
• EP banks still are involved in environmentally and socially harmful projects. For example, at this time, EP banks represent the majority of financial institutions bidding on the deeply controversial and non-EP compliant Sakhalin II project.
• BankTrack further believes that the EP banks should adopt an accountability mechanism that would allow communities affected by projects supposedly governed by the EPs to seek redress for problems they may encounter.

BankTrack welcomes the areas in which the revised EPs have embraced higher environmental and social standards. For example, the EPs now have stronger standards on labour and working conditions, and a new requirement to covenant clients to host-country environmental and social laws.

However BankTrack feels that:

• EP2 did not adopt a new IFC requirement on revenue and contract transparency for extractive industries clients, a measure designed to promote good governance and combat corruption.
• And on the important issue of Land Acquisition and Involuntary Resettlement, the IFC PS and EP2 actually reverses a previous World Bank policy and no longer recognizes people without ‘recognizable’ land titles.

BankTrack views the EPs as a baseline, rather than best practice, in the field of sustainable financing policies. A recent BankTrack study found that many banks have already adopted individual environmental and social financing policies that go beyond the Equator Principles.

As BankTrack has found out, some banks are already going far beyond the requirements of the Equator Principles, which has been a very positive outcome from this process. BankTrack are generally very supportive of the changes, and have clearly valued the opportunity they were given to comment on the proposed changes.

However, there is a need to recognise that whether or not EP banks finance a particular project is not necessarily the best measure of the success of the Equator Principles. A greater emphasis should be placed on the magnitude of the improvements that are made to individual projects as a result of an EPs banks involvement. NGOs often fail to recognise the need for client confidentiality in relation to particular projects and tend to have overly ambitious desires for disclosure.

It should be recognised that the recently completed Equator Principle revisions process has been a remarkable exercise in itself, with an impressive number of Financial Institutions getting together to discuss and reach a general consensus on how they will manage environmental and social risks. The outcomes have included clear and highly progressive improvements to the Equator Principles, which will certainly result in improved projects and increased shareholder satisfaction.

New Equator Principles Released Today!

This shows how far the financial sector has progressed in embedding in the project finance arena a common set of best practices to manage social and environmental issues related to the financing of development projects. However, so far only 33 of the original 40 financial institutions have signed up to the revised EPs and it will be interesting to see if any drop out all together over the comming weeks. The revised EPs have stronger requirements for environmental and social risk managment and also require the banks to have greater transparency in decision making. This may put some of the original banks off signing up to the revisions.

Those that have yet to announce whether they will sign up to the revisions include the following banks, (although many of these will simply have been unable to pass the revisions through their internal approval processes in time for the EPII launch):

• Banco Bradesco
• Banco Itau BBA
• Bank of America
• Caja Navarra
• Dresdner Bank
• JP Morgan Chase
• Manulife
• MCC
• Scotiabank

It will also be interesting to see if any new banks adopt the principles now that the revisions are finallised and they can be certain as to precisely what they are signing up to. The Press Release can be found at: http://www.equator-principles.com/documents/EP_Readoption_Press_Release_FINAL.pdf

Investors warned on pulp mill risk

This is a timely report in view of the widespread concerns over the Botnia paper mills. This report provides useful guidelines for financial institutions to enable them to assess the implication of investing in a new Paper Mill, and either provide the impetuous to raise the standard of a mediocre project or avoid the reputation risk of being associated with a poor project.

Investment is pouring into emerging market pulp mills based on false assumptions about the origins and the cost of wood,according to a report from the Center for International Forestry Research – “setting up investors, forest-dependent communities, and the environment for a precipitous fall,” it says. The report, financed by the European Commission and the UK’s Department for International Development, says that some $40 billion has been invested in the sector over the past decade,and analysts project a further $54 billion in investments by 2015. The study found:

• Financial institutions and investors often have very limited information about a pulp mill’s wood supply.
• Detailed data on wood supply often is not reported in sufficient detail by project sponsors, or is not publicly available.
• Financial institutions and investors do not have sufficient information to properly assess the socio-enviro impacts and sustainability of planned pulp mill projects.

The report will:

• Encourage responsible investment by promoting a legal, transparent, and sustainable pulp and paper industry.
• Ensure projects provide income for business, tax revenues for governments, and benefits and jobs for local communities.
• Allow financial institutions to better assess whether proposed pulp mill projects have a secure and sustainable supply of wood fiber.
• The report provides a number of specific recommendations that will enable them to do so.

The report “Financing Pulp Mills – An Appraisal of Risk Assessment and Safeguard Procedures”, analyzes the type of information institutions such as banks and export credit agencies examine when they decide whether or not to finance pulp mill projects.

Mongolia benefits from credit rights from European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

This is excellent news for Mongolia as they will now be able to benefit directly from EBRD investment in infrastructure, and with the EBRD’s emphasis on managing environmental and social risks many projects can be expected to benefit from the application of the EBRDs environmental and social policy requirements.

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has decided to grant credit rights to Mongolia. This issue will be decided in the near months. Besides, the EBRD is expected to establish its Resident Representative Office in the country. A Director for Russia, Central Asia Regional Group in the EBRD Hubert Pandza reported on the above on Wednesday.

“The EBRD is delighted to be able to start working fully with Mongolia. We see Mongolia’s admission as a recipient country of the EBRD as a natural continuation of the work the Bank started in central and eastern Europe 15 years ago,” said EBRD President Jean Lemierre. “Our experience and our expertise will help move forward the process of economic and political transformation.” President Lemierre is expected to visit Mongolia in September.

Map courtesy of the University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin

Equator Principles lead to increased third party pressure

As this situation demonstrates, once banks sign up to the Equator Principles Banks their finance decisions and come under greater scrutiny. While EP banks generally apply more stringent environmental and social policies than other financial institutions, NGOs increasingly use the Equator Principles as a means to place increased pressure on EP banks not to finance projects that the NGOs consider to be environmentally and socially unacceptable.

In the face of this third party pressure, the EP banks need to consider the specialist environmental and social reports prepared by their consultants to make a fully informed decisions. This will ensure their finance decisions are based on the scientific evidence, opposed to responding to excessive pressure. Particularly, if these reports indicate that the risks can be managed in an acceptable manner and the project sponsor demonstrates a clear comittment to improving their environmental and scoial perfromance.

Conversely, NGOs need to recognise that project finance provides opportunities for substantial economic improvements and simply not financing a project may not be the best way of managing the environmental and social risks – after all you can have a greater influence from the inside opposed to the outside.

While the anticipated increased scrutiny may make financial institutions think twice about signing up to the principles, the additional risk management the EPs provide and the shareholder support for such actions can be expected to make it worthwhile.

An example of the ongoing pressure placed on EP banks – this project is considere by many to be a tesing ground for the effectiveness of the Equator Principles:

Thursday May 18th, 2006 – Nine organizations including broad civil society networks in 6 countries, filed a complaint today against Calyon, the international financial investment arm of Crédit Agricole of France, for violations of the Equator Principles, in Calyon’s support of the highly controversial Finnish papermill in Uruguay in construction by Botnia. The complaint was modeled after an earlier complaint presented to ING Group of Netherlands, soon after which ING withdrew US$480 million in pledged support to Botnia. The filing will be followed by public protests outside of the French Embassy in Buenos Aires, the headquarters of Calyon and Crédit Agricole in Paris, and launches what will be a rigorous international campaign against Calyon and Crédit Agricole to withdraw its support to the mills being constructed on the Uruguay River, the natural waterway border between Argentina and Uruguay.

The complaint was discussed and prepared in collaboration between the 9 institutions, in 6 countries and consists of 17 pages of evidence that Botnia does not comply with the Social and Environmental Safeguards of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and suggests that if Calyon finances Botnia, it will be complicit in violations of human rights and environmental law.

EIB and EBRD will apply the EU’s principles on environmental protection to project financing

London, 1 June: The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) have signed a declaration promising to apply the EU’s principles on environmental protection to project financing.In order to secure a loan from the banks, a project should now adhere to the European Principles for the Environment (EPE), which are based on EU environmental legislation and the environmental principles enshrined in the treaties underpinning the EU.

However, campaign groups are already saying that the declaration does not go far enough, because the requirement is subject to the banks’ environmental policies and, outside of Europe, subject to local conditions.

Stoczkiewicz also expressed concern about how the principles would be applied to projects financed by the EIB in Latin America and Asia. “These conditions will not necessarily come from the country’s legislation or the country’s government itself,” she said.

Arango said that it would not be practicable to expect projects in developing countries to adhere to some EU legislation. He said: “We do not go down the line of dumping environmental externalities on developing countries. When you go into developing countries, you have to be realistic.”

Bankers Environmental Credit Risk Workshop highlights need for EIA and CSR

Workshop on Environmental Credit Risk (4 May 2006, Copenhagen, Denmark, hosted by the Danish Bankers Association)The workshop included presentations by Chris Bray, UNEP FI Steering Committee Member and Head of Environmental Risk Management at Barclays, as well as representatives of Nordea AB, Danske Bank and Folksam, with case studies provided for different types of environmental risks.

Examples of risk management tools such as land use investigation and environmental impact assessment were also shared.

A key conclusion of the workshop was that sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) issues are now permanent strategic factors. As such participants noted, among other things, that there has been an increase in corporations focusing on CSR due to rising pressure to report publicly on progress in this field.

It was also observed that the UN Millennium Development Goals for financial institutions have triggered an increase in shareholder activism. Further information and materials will be available shortly on the UNEP FI website.

HSBC awarded Sustainable Bank of the Year by the FT

HSBC has bagged the title of sustainable bank of the year at the Financial Times Sustainable Banking Awards.The bank was praised by the judges for its “impressively integrated… emphasis on the triple bottom line”, its readiness to grasp sustainability-related opportunities as well as avoid risk, and its leading position on climate change – including its decision to go carbon neutral.

Brazilian bank ABN Amro Real was named emerging markets sustainable bank of the year, after the judges drew attention to its role in developing the BOVESPA sustainability index and launching Brazil’s first carbon credit fund.

ABN Amro awarded for ‘International Corporate Achievement in Sustainable Development’

ABN Amro was awarded the World Environment Center’s 2006 Gold Medal Award for “International Corporate Achievement in Sustainable Development.” The bank was a leader in the development and institution of the Equator Principles, the first ever framework for incorporating social and environmental practices in private bank lending.