The Equator Principles have been around since June 2003 when 10 big banking firms adopted them. Since then, between 70 to 100 financial institutions in many countries have signed on to the Principles. There’s been criticism from NGOs about transparency, whether or not the Principles make any difference (as projects with numerous breaches of the Principles have been funded by signatory banks since 2003), and using the Principles as greenwashing.
However, environmental groups in the financial industry have said that adoption of the Principles, especially in developing countries, reduces the environmental harm caused by industrialization, especially during the building of mega-structures, such as dams.
And that brings us to right now. From The Guardian:
Four of the world’s biggest banks have left the Equator Principles, a set of minimum industry standards and safeguards for financial institutions to address environmental and social risks in countries where they finance fossil fuel and mining projects.
The Equator Principles have been around for more than two decades, and while not enforceable, they provide a basic framework of environmental standards that banks agreed would underpin financing deals on pollution-causing extractive projects.
The American banks – Citi, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo – are listed as having left the group of institutions that have signed the principles.
The news was condemned by climate groups as “shocking” and “cowardly”.