New Financiers and the Environment

Financial institutions from countries such as China, Brazil, India and Thailand are playing an increasingly active role in financing infrastructure and mining projects around the world.

For example, since 2007 with ICBC, Bank of China and China Construction Bank three out of the ten biggest banks by market capitalization come from China.  Although they invest in environmentally sensitive sectors, many emerging financiers do not yet apply internationally accepted standards in their projects.

The new report discusses the experience with environmental standards and how it can be useful for new financiers. It brings together experiences and perspectives of civil society, financial institutions, and academics from developing and industrialized countries.  Ten authors present case studies of overseas projects funded by Chinese, Indian and Thai financiers, and analyze the experience with environmental standards which could be applied by these financiers.

The report is available for download (in English and Chinese) and from nicole@internationalrivers.org