Some progress made in ESG financing policies, but not nearly enough
News
The new principles set out a new framework which will hold the banks accountable for their environmental, social and economic impacts.
Indonesian and Japanese Banks Implicated in Korindo’s Illegal Deforestation and Rights Abuses.
A new report commissioned by Friends of the Earth NL shows Dutch banks allow consumers to unwittingly invest in controversial palm oil companies.
Maybank is the world’s single largest financier of the palm oil sector – it provided 11% of all loans and underwriting to selected palm oil companies in the period 2010-2016 – but it has no publicly available risk policy for financing the sector.
A new report published by Rainforest Action Network, OPPUK—an Indonesian labor rights advocacy organization—and International Labor Rights Forum titled, “The Human Cost of Conflict Palm Oil Revisited: How PepsiCo, Banks, and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil Perpetuate Indofood’s Worker Exploitation” details new evidence of labor abuses on plantations owned by Indofood Sukses Makmur (Indofood), one of […]
A group of 30 Indonesian NGOs have sent a letter of concern to major financiers and buyers of APRIL, as a result of the company’s reluctance to adhere to the Ministry’s request to submit revised workplans that would comply with Indonesia’s new peat regulations. These developments put into question APRIL’s commitment to implement its own […]
A coalition of NGOs have put together an anthology of analysis, positions and recommendations on priorities for the EU Sustainable Finance Action Plan. They recommend that the European financial framework should be reformed in order to align EU financial policies and legislation with environmental, social and governance factors (ESG), notably from international agreements like the […]
In January, Greenpeace reported on HSBC’s involvement in palm oil development in Indonesia. The bank has now announced a pledge of US$100bn to be invested in sustainable finance.
In October 2017, Malaysian palm oil giant IOI Group announced three major labour policies: to stop charging recruitment fees to its workers, respect the right to freedom of association and strive towards paying a living wage. Collectively, these policies set a new standard within an industry known for exploiting workers and labour rights.