Banks| Policies| Dodgy Deals| Campaigns
About us| Blog| Publications| Successes| Contact us| Donate
About BankTrack
Visit us
Organisation
Our team
Our board
Guiding principles
Team up with us
Join our Active Allies list
Our annual reports
Funding and finances
History
BankTrack in the media
Our privacy policy
Donate
2021-02-24 00:00:00
Protect the climate but finance Total?
2021-02-16 00:00:00
Oil and gas financiers are staring down the barrel at $1 trillion in losses: time to rein in support for new pipelines
2021-02-11 00:00:00
Beefing up risk: the exposure of JBS’ financiers to financial, regulatory and reputational risks
2021-01-25 00:00:00
Why should banks support EU mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence?
2020-09-24 12:53:20
Oscislowo open-pit coal mine cancelled
2020-09-08 13:07:41
Strengthened OECD guidance on responsible banking
2020-02-25 10:35:27
JPMorgan Chase Coal and Arctic Policy a step forward but fails to match its climate responsibility as the world’s #1 Fossil Bank
2020-02-18 17:27:23
Civil society groups welcome Royal Bank of Scotland preparing to exit fossil fuels
Connect
2021-03-24 00:00:00
Banking on Climate Chaos 2021
2021-03-22 00:00:00
BankTrack Annual Report 2020
2021-02-01 00:00:00
Banking on Thin Ice
2020-11-30 00:00:00
Soft Commitments, Hard Lessons: an analysis of the Soft Commodities Compact
2020-11-24 00:00:00
"Trust Us, We're Equator Banks": Part II
2020-11-18 00:00:00
Crude Risk: Risks to banks and investors from the East African Crude Oil Pipeline
See all publications
Browse
Home
Banks
Dodgy Deals
Map
Campaigns
About
About BankTrack
Donate
Contact BankTrack
Publications
Victories
Follow Us
News
BankTrack blog
Facebook page
Twitter channel
Home › News
Chinese NGOs Rank the Country’s Major Financiers, Launch Sustainability Benchmarking of Chinese Commercials Banks
Start
Banks

By: Green Watershed
2011-07-11
Kunming, China

Contact:

Yu Xiaogang, Green Watershed (Chinese)

Adina Matisoff, Friends of the Earth-US (English)


Share this page:

Normal 0 21 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

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.

Related banks

Bank of China China

active

China Construction Bank China

active

China Development Bank China

active

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) China

active

Hua Xia Bank China

on record
Browse
Home
Banks
Dodgy Deals
Map
Campaigns
About
About BankTrack
Donate
Contact BankTrack
Publications
Victories
Follow Us
News
BankTrack blog
Facebook page
Twitter channel
Vismarkt 15
6511 VJ Nijmegen
The Netherlands

Tel: +31 24 324 9220
Contact@banktrack.org
©2016 BankTrack                Webdesign by BankTrack and EASYmind
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