BANKS DODGY DEALS CAMPAIGNS
About BankTrack
20 years of BankTrack – Our history
Visit us
Organisation
Our team
Our board
Guiding principles
Team up with us
Jobs at BankTrack
Our annual reports
Funding and finances
BankTrack in the media
Our privacy policy
Donate
2023-09-18 00:00:00
New report and blog: Barclays' bond with Adani
2023-08-23 00:00:00
Decarbonization: steel not making the cut
2023-07-27 00:00:00
Two months ago 62 organizations and 3 Goldman Environmental Prize winners wrote an Open Letter to the TNFD: No one responded
2023-07-13 00:00:00
The Sustainable Steel Principles: One step forward when leaps are needed
2023-09-15 17:34:10
The number of major banks refusing to support EACOP reaches 24
2023-07-31 14:30:01
Equator Principles recognise projects’ risk to climate for the first time
2023-05-17 14:30:30
EACOP Financial Advisor SMBC is no longer involved with the project
2023-03-28 13:43:00
French bank Société Générale withdraws from Rio Grande LNG
Connect
2023-09-18 00:00:00
Barclays' bond with Adani
2023-06-26 00:00:00
How should financiers align with the Global Biodiversity Framework? Five Key Principles
2023-04-13 00:00:00
Banking on Climate Chaos 2023
2023-04-12 00:00:00
The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP): Finance Risk Update No. 4
See all publications
Sections
Banks Dodgy Deals Campaigns
Our campaigns
Banks and Climate
Banks and Human Rights
Banks and Nature
Banks and Pandemics
Our projects
Tracking the NZBA
End Coal Finance
Banks and Putin's war in Ukraine
Banks and steel
Tracking the Equator Principles
Tracking the PRBs
Find a Better Bank
Banks and the OECD Guidelines
Media
News Publications
Fossil Banks No Thanks StopEACOP Forests & Finance Banks & Biodiversity Drop JBS Bank of Coal Don't Buy into Occupation
BankTrack
About BankTrack 20 years of BankTrack – Our history Visit us Organisation Our team Our board Guiding principles Team up with us Jobs at BankTrack Our annual reports Funding and finances BankTrack in the media Our privacy policy Donate
Successes Contact BankTrack
Donate Mailing list Facebook Twitter Login
Home › BankTrack news ›
BankTrack News

Briefing: how the EU can make finance more sustainable

The European Commission has committed to making EU financial institutions more sustainable; it is now time to ensure its actions reflect this commitment.
2022-10-12 | Brussels, Belgium
By: BankTrack, Brot für die Welt, Fair Finance International, Frank Bold, Global Witness, International Service for Human Rights, ShareAction, Südwind, World Benchmarking Alliance & WWF
Contact:

Aurelie Skrobik, Campaigner, Corporate Accountability, Global Witness

Ryan Brightwell, Campaign Lead Banks and Human Rights, BankTrack

Richard Gardiner, EU Public Policy Lead, World Benchmarking Alliance

Flags outside the EU Headquarters Berlaymont building in Brussels, Belgium. Photo: Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
2022-10-12 | Brussels, Belgium
By: BankTrack, Brot für die Welt, Fair Finance International, Frank Bold, Global Witness, International Service for Human Rights, ShareAction, Südwind, World Benchmarking Alliance & WWF
Contact:

Aurelie Skrobik, Campaigner, Corporate Accountability, Global Witness

Ryan Brightwell, Campaign Lead Banks and Human Rights, BankTrack

Richard Gardiner, EU Public Policy Lead, World Benchmarking Alliance

The EU has an opportunity to ensure transformative change in the financial sector through the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), a legislative proposal that EU policymakers will finalise in the coming months.

The current draft text mentions the financial sector, but exempts it from the due diligence rules that apply to other companies. This briefing outlines how the EU can change this to ensure its financial systems protect human rights and the environment.

Financial institutions, such as investors, insurers and banks, must be able to identify whether their actions will negatively impact people or the planet, and then take measures to prevent and mitigate that impact.

EU-based financiers and their subsidiaries have played central roles in financing projects that have caused human rights violations and environmental damage, and have been linked to land grabbing, deforestation, and violence against communities and land and environmental defenders.

The European Commission’s draft of the CSDDD recognises this but does not ensure that they are required to support the protection of human rights and the environment.

The sector is exempt from several key obligations, allowing banks to avoid conducting meaningful due diligence when financing companies and projects. These exemptions risk the continued financing of human rights abuses and environmental destruction and contradict international due diligence guidelines.

Key Recommendations 

We call on MEPs and Member States to improve the CSDDD by:

  • Obliging financial institutions to conduct due diligence in an ongoing way, instead of as a one-off before providing services
  • Ensuring due diligence is carried out throughout financial institutions’ entire value chains and investment portfolios
  • Empowering financial institutions to divest from harmful entities where appropriate, in line with international best practices
  • Including finance in the list of “high impact” sectors

 

Download the full briefing here.

Sections
Banks Policies Dodgy Deals Campaigns
Our campaigns
Banks and Climate Banks and Human Rights Banks and Nature Banks and Pandemics
Our projects
Tracking the NZBA End Coal Finance Banks and Putin's war in Ukraine Banks and steel Tracking the Equator Principles Tracking the PRBs Find a Better Bank Banks and the OECD Guidelines
Media
News Publications
Fossil Banks No Thanks StopEACOP Forests & Finance Banks & Biodiversity Drop JBS Bank of Coal Don't Buy into Occupation
BankTrack
About BankTrack 20 years of BankTrack – Our history Visit us Organisation Our team Our board Guiding principles Team up with us Jobs at BankTrack Our annual reports Funding and finances BankTrack in the media Our privacy policy Donate
Successes Contact BankTrack
Vismarkt 15
6511 VJ Nijmegen
The Netherlands
Contact@banktrack.org
Donate Mailing list Facebook Twitter
©2023 BankTrack
BankTrack is a registered charity in the Netherlands (ANBI) - RSIN 813874658
Find our privacy policy here

Stay up to date

Sign up now for all BankTrack's news


Make a comment

Your comment will be reviewed, before being posted