The Equator Principles, Project Finance and the Challenge of Social and Environmental Responsibility

Abstract

The Equator Principles, launched in 2003 and revamped in 2006, are a set of voluntary principlesdesigned to help private lenders make socially and environmentally responsible projectfinancing decisions. This paper explores the impact of these principles on the disclosures oftwo signatory banks, focusing on type of information disclosures that have resulted and thesubstance of these disclosures. The work considers whether it is possible to ascertain from publiclyavailable information how the practices of the banks may have changed in order to focuson their stated social and environmental responsibilities. It is concluded that although the EquatorPrinciples have marked the beginning of the banking sectors acknowledgement of their rolein social and environmental responsibility, at this stage insufficient information is being disclosedto determine the impact these principles are having on actual banking practices. Copyright © www.iiste.org