Kunming, China, Jul 11 2011 | Green Watershed
Green
Watershed, a Chinese environmental NGO and member of BankTrack, an
international network of NGOs that advance sustainability in the financial
sector, released an English-language report about the sustainability policies
and practices of major Chinese commercial banks. Environmental Record of Chinese
Banks 2010 benchmarks 14 Chinese commercial banks, including
ICBC, China Construction Bank and Bank of China, which are currently among the
top ten most valuable banks in the world, according to the Financial Time's Global 500 ranking. Additionally, the report assessed Bank of
Communications, China
Merchants Bank, CITIC Bank, Shanghai Pudong
Development Bank, China
Minsheng Bank, Industrial Bank, Huaxia Bank, Shenzhen Development Bank, Bank of
Beijing, Bank of Ningbo and Bank of Nanjing. Cumulatively, these 14 banks
account for more than half the assets of all Chinese banks.
Key conclusions of the report include:
- Overall, Chinese commercial banks disclosed information
about their environmental performance more voluntarily than in years
past; including both their lending for environmentally friendly projects
and information about phasing out lending to energy inefficient or
highly polluting industries. However, the banks fell short in terms of
adopting transparent policies and implementation measures, engaging with
the public and embracing international standards.
- Among the best performers were China Merchants Bank,
Industrial Bank, ICBC and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, which made
strides towards integrating the central government's green credit
policy, through the formulation of environmental policies and
implementation of environmental measures, research on and practice of
international environmental standards, internal environmental activities
and outreach. Among the worst performers were Bank of Nanjing, Bank of
Ningbo, Huaxia Bank and Shenzhen Development Bank.
- The report also notes that Chinese banks are financing
controversial mining, oil & gas, agriculture and hydropower
activities around the world. The authors recommend that Chinese banks
should, at minimum, apply domestic green credit policies to their
overseas transactions if they are truly to become world-class financial
institutions.
The report, which originally was released in Chinese in April 2011,
assesses each bank based on indicators such as its environmental
policies, implementation measures, lending reductions to
energy-intensive and polluting sectors, lending to environmentally
friendly projects, adoption of international standards, information
disclosure and public engagement. The authors used data from the banks'
2009 CSR reports, publicly-available bank policies, questionnaires sent
to the banks, and media coverage. Environmental Record of Chinese Banks 2010 is
the second sustainability study of Chinese commercial banks led by
Green Watershed; the first study, released in 2009, examined the banks'
progress towards sustainability in 2008.
In addition to Green Watershed, eight Chinese environmental NGOs
collaborated on the benchmarking project. Collaborating NGOs include
Friends of Nature, Global Environmental Institute, Institute of Public
and Environmental Affairs, Green Earth Volunteers, Civil Society Watch,
China Development Brief, Chongqing League of Green Volunteers, and
Sichuan Hengduan Mountains Research Institute. SynTao Co. Ltd. provided
consulting services.
