17 December 2012 –  Charles Russell, Malcolm Dowden

Large scale infrastructure projects in the UK and around the world are under increasingly close scrutiny from campaigning NGOs and ethical investment indices concerned with their environmental and human rights impacts. Those increased levels of scrutiny and activism are finding legal expression, including court proceedings just launched by Friends of the Earth in the Netherlands in respect of Shell's activities in Nigeria, and the 2006 International Court of Justice ruling in respect of the Fray Bentos pulp mill in Uruguay.  NGOs are also pressing for more rigorous and meaningful enforcement of the environmental and human rights elements of the 'Equator Principles' (EPs), which are currently being updated and extended. In particular, NGOs are seeking to highlight the limited effectiveness and inadequate implementation of grievance mechanisms – intended to hear, address and resolve community complaints without requiring expensive recourse to formal judicial proceedings. Read More.

13 December 2012 - Environmental Leader

The next phase of ecosystem services will affect companies’ decision making and public policy — but how that plays out remains to be seen, according to a BSR blog. Last January, companies seeking financing from the World Bank and other Equator Principles signatories became subject to due diligence processes that examine corporate impacts and dependencies on ecosystem services — the benefits provided by functioning ecosystems. Read More.

12 December 2012 - Green Biz, Sissel Waage

In January 2012, a potentially significant shift occurred for corporate decision-makers: Companies seeking financing from the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation, as well as from 76 global banks that signed on to the Equator Principles, became subject to due diligence processes that examine corporate impacts and dependencies on ecosystem services. This occurred even as more than 16 national and regional governments continued to focus on ways to integrate ecosystem services into public policy. With small-scale exploratory work underway for several years, corporate applications covered the spectrum - from integration of ecosystem services into accounting to consideration of the issues as an element in risk-management and impact-assessment protocols. Read More.

22 November 2012 - Environmental Finance, Suellen Lazarus

The leading Equator Principles banks face huge challenges in reaching consensus on the latest reforms to the financing standards. Their proposals have much to commend them – but there is room to go further, says Suellen Lazarus. The steering committee guiding the redrafting of the Equator Principles (EPs) has faced a daunting task. With limited resources, under conflicting pressure from both inside and outside the group, and dealing with some of the world’s most complex environmental challenges, the EP Association has demonstrated finesse in negotiating the third iteration of the principles. Read More.

22 November 2012 - Environmental Finance, Suellen Lazarus

The leading Equator Principles banks face huge challenges in reaching consensus on the latest reforms to the financing standards. Their proposals have much to commend them – but there is room to go further, says Suellen Lazarus. The steering committee guiding the redrafting of the Equator Principles (EPs) has faced a daunting task. With limited resources, under conflicting pressure from both inside and outside the group, and dealing with some of the world’s most complex environmental challenges, the EP Association has demonstrated finesse in negotiating the third iteration of the principles. Read More.

22 November 2012 - Environmental Finance, Suellen Lazarus

The leading Equator Principles banks face huge challenges in reaching consensus on the latest reforms to the financing standards. Their proposals have much to commend them – but there is room to go further, says Suellen Lazarus. The steering committee guiding the redrafting of the Equator Principles (EPs) has faced a daunting task. With limited resources, under conflicting pressure from both inside and outside the group, and dealing with some of the world’s most complex environmental challenges, the EP Association has demonstrated finesse in negotiating the third iteration of the principles. Read More.

15 November 2012 - The Guardian, Oliver Balch

"Sustainable finance" finds itself very much in vogue these days. That wasn't the case ten years ago. Back then, bankers, insurers and investment folk wore suits, talked numbers, struck deals – and left worrying about the outside world to others. Today's shift in attitudes can arguably be dated back to early June 2003, when 10 international banks pledged to start applying social and environmental criteria to their lending. This wasn't your usual eco-banking small fry. The club included many of the big hitters of the day: Barclays, Citigroup, Credit Suisse and Rabobank, among others. Binding them all together was a set of rules and guidance documents that they called the Equator Principles. The banks behind the principles set two strict parameters right from the start. Read More.

14 November 2012 - Lexology, Stephenson Harwood, Andrew Wiseman and Anita Kasseean

The Equator Principles are a set of voluntary social and environmental guidelines by which approximately 77 banks and other financial institutions (known as the Equator Principles Financial Institutions (EPFIs)) have agreed to be bound in making project finance decisions. EPFIs can refuse to provide loans to projects where the borrower is unable or unwilling to comply with their social and environmental policies and procedures. On 13 August 2012 the Equator Principles Association released a draft of the third version of the Equator Principles (EP3) for stakeholder consultation and public comment. The consultation period closed on 12 October 2012. Read More.

13 November 2012 - Lexology, Jones Day, Chris Papanicolaou and James Campbell

The Equator Principles, "a credit risk management framework for determining, assessing and managing environmental and social risk" in project finance deals, arose from a 2002 meeting in London among nine international banks and the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank.  Equator Principles Financial Institutions ("EPFI") voluntarily agree not to provide "project related loans and project finance advisory services to projects where the borrower will not, or is unable to comply with, the Equator Principles." Read More.

12 October 2012 - BankTrack

BankTrack, the international NGO network monitoring investment decisions and sustainability commitments of large international banks, today submitted its comments on the Equator Principles III draft text (EPIII). The submission followed a meeting in London on September 25 where BankTrack shared its view on EPIII with the Equator Principles Association.  Read More.