The Environmental Paper Network (EPN)* has published In the Red, an assessment of bank policies for financing pulp and paper companies worldwide. This assessment reveals that the banks most deeply involved in the pulp and paper sector do not have public policies that will ensure they avoid financing projects and companies that cause environmental and social harm.
EPN日前在全球范围内公布了有关浆纸企业融资的银行政策评估报告In the Red。该报告表明深度涉足浆纸业的银行并没有相关公共政策来避免该融资项目和纸张公司所引起的环境和社会危害。
The assessment studied how ready the financial sector is to manage the environmental and social risks of financial involvement with the pulp and paper industry. It is a benchmark assessment carried out by a team of researchers from several countries, which evaluated the pulp and paper policies of 42 private banks against the requirements set out in 2016 in Green Paper, Red Lines.
该报告还研究了金融部门是否准备好应对浆纸业项目带来的环境与社会风险。这份由来自数个国家的研究者产出的准基报告，认定有42家私营银行的浆纸政策不符和2016年发布的Green Paper, Red Lines报告所提出的要求。
The Red Lines are regulatory, environmental and social criteria, which articulate minimum requirements that pulp and paper companies must meet before investment in them is considered. Unless pulp and paper mills and their financiers fulfil these requirements, they are highly likely to cause social and environmental harm and become the target of campaigns by civil society organisations. Member organisations of EPN therefore expect financiers to stay clear if their client pulp and paper companies are unable to meet the minimum requirements. The unacceptable level of relevant policies in financial institutions clearly demonstrates a lack of accountability and commitment regarding these issues.
报告所列涉及管理、环境保护与社会影响的标准，是浆纸公司符合融资条件的最低要求。如果浆纸工厂和投资者不能履行这些条款，他们极有可能造成社会与环境危害并成为公民社会组织的众矢之的。EPN的成员组织因此希望投资者对他们的浆纸业客户是否能够达到最低标准保持清醒的认知。金融机构相关环境政策的水平令人难以置信，恰好说明了对环境责任感与承诺的缺失。
Mandy Haggith, co-ordinator of the Environmental Paper Network’s pulp finance working group, said: “The results of our assessment reveal that bank policies are extremely disappointing. Unfortunately none of the banks we assessed manages to thoroughly protect itself from clients breaching the Red Lines. Indeed for most of the Red Lines, the vast bulk of banks are at best only partly protected. We can only conclude that the banking sector does not have policies that are fit for purpose to avoid irresponsible investment in damaging pulp and paper projects and companies. We urge all banks to review and strengthen their policies for involvement in this sector.”
EPN浆纸金融工作组的协调人 Mandy Haggith说：“我们这份报告结果显示，银行的环境政策是极度令人失望的。我们评估的银行中，很不幸地，没有一家能够保证他们的客户能够达到Green Paper, Red Lines的标准。实际上报告中的多数标准，大部分银行顶多只是部分涉及。我们只能推断，银行业没有相适应的政策来避免浆纸类项目中不负责任的投资。因此，我们迫切希望银行能够重新审视和加强他们的相关政策。”
* EPN is a global network of more than 140 non-governmental organisations, working on pulp and paper sustainability issues, all of which endorse the Global Paper Vision.
* EPN是一家超过40家非政府组织组成的全球网络，致力于浆纸业的可持续发展。所有成员组织均签署了《Global Paper Vision》。
Links
– In the Red: report on the assessment of bank policies – http://www.environmentalpaper.eu/in-the-red/
– The Green Paper, Red Lines criteria – http://www.environmentalpaper.eu/red-lines-for-pulp-mill-finance/
– Global Paper Vision – http://www.environmentalpaper.eu/our-common-vision/