2019 marks the fruitful first year for the Green Investment Principles (GIP) for the Belt and Road. Jointly launched by China Green Finance Committee and City of London Corporation’s Green Finance Initiative in November 2018, GIP just celebrated its first anniversary with 45 members from 14 countries and regions around the world.
As a set of voluntary guidelines, GIP seeks to address environmental and climate challenges for investments along the Belt and Road Region.
In 2019, it has achieved two major milestones:
On April 25, the GIP inaugural signing ceremony was held in Beijing as part of the Second Belt and Road Forum. As one of the forum’s most important deliverables, GIP was named by Chinese President Xi Jinping in his keynote speech as an option for green development in the BRI region.
On Aug 16, at the First GIP Plenary Meeting, a detailed work plan was laid out through the forming of three working groups, all led by GIP members: Environmental and Climate Risk Assessment, Environmental and Climate Information Disclosure, Green Financial Product Innovation.
The GIP Secretariat was also established following the August plenary meeting. With one chapter in Beijing and one in London, the office serves to assist the three working groups as well as the 35 signatories and 10 supporting institutions.
Dr. Ma Jun, Chairman of China Green Finance Committee and GIP Co-chair, commented:
“This is the first time that we see so many financial institutions from developing countries signing up to a global initiative on sustainability.”
“Given that most OECD countries seek net-zero carbon by 2050 and that developing countries will be main contributors of carbon emissions, GIP gives us one more hope to count on to realize the Paris Agreement by promoting and implementing the Green Investment Principles.”
Sir Roger Gifford, Co-Chair of the City of London Corporation’s UK-China Green Finance Centre and Chairman of the Green Finance Institute remarked:
“The principles are the start of an important journey to help mitigate the potential environmental impact of the Belt and Road Initiative.”
“I therefore look forward to working with all partners and signatories as we work to develop and strengthen the voluntary guidelines going forward.”
Looking ahead, GIP will focus its work on developing tools for green investments and promoting implementation through the three working groups, such as capacity building, collection and dissemination of leading practices, knowledge sharing by external partners, and progress reporting.
The first progress report will be produced by the GIP Secretariat and launched at the next Plenary meeting in 2020.
Notes to the Editor:
The City of London Corporation’s Green Finance Initiative was superseded by the Green Finance Institute in July 2019. Work on the GIPs is now being undertaken by the UK-China Green Finance Centre.
For more details, please contact the GIP Secretariat at the following:
Beijing Office: sec-gip@pbcsf.tsinghua.edu.cn or +86 10 8302 1571
London Office: green@cityoflondon.gov.uk or +44 020 7332 3380
Annex: List of Member Institutions
Signatory Institutions
1. Agricultural Bank of China
2. Agricultural Development Bank of China
3. Al Hilal Bank
4. Ant Financial Services Group
5. Astana International Exchange (AIX)
6. Bank of Bangkok
7. Bank of China
8. Bank of East Asia
9. BMCE Bank of Africa
10. BNP Paribas
11. China Construction Bank
12. China Development Bank
13. China International Capital Corporation (CICC)
14. China International Contractors Association (CHINCA)
15. Commerzbank AG
16. Credit Agricole-CIB
17. DBS Bank
18. Deutsche Bank
19. Export-Import Bank of China
20. First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB)
21. Habib Bank (HBL)
22. Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC)
23. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX)
24. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC)
25. Industrial Bank
26. Khan Bank
27. Luxemburg Stock Exchange
28. Mizuho Bank
29. Natixis Bank
30. Silk Road Fund
31. Société Générale
32. Standard Chartered Bank
33. Trade & Development Bank of Mongolia (TDB)
34. UBS Group AG
35. Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology
Supporting Institutions
1. APEC Network on Green Supply Chain Tianjin Pilot Center
2. Carbon Trust
3. China Beijing Environmental Exchange
4. Climate Bond Initiative
5. Deloitte
6. Ernst & Young
7. KPMG
8. PwC
9. Refinitiv
10. Starquest Capital