The Public Eye on Davos, Friends of the
Earth International, Pro Natura - Friends of
the Earth Switzerland, The Berne
declaration
MEDIA ADVISORY by BankTrack - tracking
private finance
No U-turn allowed. NGOs call upon banks
to save Equator Principles as support for
Caspian oil pipeline threatens
credibility
Davos (Switzerland), January 23rd 2004 --
Non-governmental organisations (NGO) present
at "The Public Eye on Davos"1, today called
upon commercial banks not to back track on
their commitment to the Equator Principles
(EP). They voiced this concern as EP
signatory banks intend to finance the highly
controversial Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil
pipeline.
Since June 2003, nineteen leading banks
have signed on to the Equator Principles,
committing themselves to apply the social and
environmental policies of the IFC, the World
Bank's private arm, in all their project
lending.
While cautiously welcomed by NGOs as a
first step in a long process leading to
socially and environmentally respon-sible
banking practices, the continued support of
Equator banks for projects such as BTC has
led to serious doubts about the viability of
the Principles. At least eight EP banks, lead
by ABN AMRO, are participating in the BTC
project, which, according to NGO research, is
in total or partial breach of five EP
referenced IFC standards, on at least 127
counts.
The NGOs, who recently established the
BankTrack network, presented EP banks with a
elaborate list of recommen-dations on how to
best act upon the Principles, and move beyond
the limited framework they provide. The
recommen-dations include a commitment to full
information disclosure and transparency, the
establishment of a joint Independent
Accountability Mechanism, and moving beyond
IFC standards in those sectors where these
are not best practice.
Andrea Baranes of CRBM, Italy commented;
"EP Bank support for BTC has put the very
credibility of the Principles at stake;
having such ambitions and at the same time
allow for these kind of projects to continue
makes them virtually meaningless"
Michelle Chan of Friends of the Earth US
added "The Equator Principles, as a voluntary
set of principles, cannot depend solely on
peer group pressure to succeed. Independent
monitoring and compliance mechanisms must be
put in place. Signatories cannot expect to
receive much public credit without
accountability procedures that ensure that
banks practice what they preach on the
ground".
Said Andreas Missbach of Berne
Declaration; "Signing on to the Equator
Principles must signify an end to 'business
as usual' for banks, reflected in a change in
their portfolios and lending practices. EP
banks should invest in, and capitalise on the
potential good will created by the EPs. Any
short term financial gains from signing on to
a controversial project such as BTC will be
insignificant compared to this future
asset."
Contact:
In Davos:
Andreas Missbach, Berne
Declaration, +41 79 339 37 01
Andrea Baranes, CRBM, and Michelle
Chan-Fishel, Friends of the Earth US, +39 339
631 26 13
After January 24th, in Amsterdam:
Johan Frijns, BankTrack coordinator +31 20
6868111, +31 6 12421667
Note for editors: "No U-Turn allowed; NGO
recommendations to the Equator banks" at
www.banktrack.org .
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