Environmental and social compliance high on agenda for multilateral development bank

Representatives from major Chinese and international banks and environmental protection entities gathered in Shanghai on Monday for a two-day workshop that is focused on building an accountability mechanism for financial intermediaries to reinforce environmental and social compliance in their investments.

A draft of the accountability mechanism framework introduced by the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) Office of the Compliance Review Panel is being reviewed at the workshop, which is jointly hosted by ADB and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.

The approved framework will be put into practice with pilot financial intermediaries from China, India and Indonesia as early as October, according to Munawar Alam, adviser of the ADB's Office of the Compliance Review Panel.

Ye Yanfei, director general of the policy research bureau at China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC), said that financial institutions have significant influence over their clients regarding environment and social risk management.

He added that CBIRC has over the past decade been promoting green finance through a series of guidelines to support a low carbon emission economy.

Zhao Hualin, an official from the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, said ADB's accountability mechanism framework is instrumental as China is tightening environmental compliance in its growing overseas investment. 

More than 250 representatives from major Chinese banks, the World Bank, the New Development Bank, the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment and the Environmental Defense Fund participated in the workshop.