New financiers and the environment. Ten perspectives on how financial institutions can protect the environment.

The ten following perspectives on how financial institutions can protect the environment are based on the growing economic south-south cooperation:

• Chinese investors and the environment – a south African perspective 
• India’s dam building abroad: lessons from the experience at home 
• perspective from the Mekong region: new financiers and familiar problems 
• standards for hydropower development – a Burmese perspective 
• bi-lateral policy orientation in the multilateral development policy: a challenge for the China Exim bank and its accountability 
• the world commission on dams framework: solutions for managing dams, water and energy 
• the equator principles – a framework for managing social and environmental risk in project finance
• good practice in environmental policy – a civil society perspective
• development banks in Asia going green

The main aspects from each perspective are the following: 

• China Exim bank, as a major Chinese financier in Africa, has a published code of environmental regulations 
• the export import bank of India and other companies are well advised to adopt the world commission on dams (WCD’s) recommendations for good practice in water and energy sector development, to avoid getting involved in international conflicts over their projects
• there is need to identify better planning practices and internationally recognised standards of best practice in the power sector
• international environmental standards and China’s own domestic environmental laws provide a benchmark for companies engaged in hydropower development in Burma
• China is no longer an ordinary borrower in multilateral development banks (MDBs); it is an important donor. As a responsible financier in development, the China Exim bank needs to develop its operational policies and procedures
• the decision-making framework of the world commission on dams can help them make financially, economically, socially and environmentally sound investment decisions 
• the equator principles are the common baseline and framework of leading financial institutions active in project finance for the implementation of their own social and environmental policies. Mizuho corporate bank, one of the largest financial institutions in the world, adopted the principles
• civil society groups internationally agree that proposed development activities with the potential to significantly affect the environment should conform to accepted international good practice norms for addressing environmental impacts 
• for financial institutions in the Asia-Pacific region, the concept of green banking is still new. The development bank of the Philippines (DBP), an association of development financing institutions in Asia & the Pacific (ADFIAP) member, is an early leader in green banking in Asia
• some bankers, fund managers, regulators, stock exchange authorities, and other stakeholders have become involved on socially responsible investment (SRI) issues