1. April-June 2010
Project Updates
 Discussion Workshops on National Green Credit Draft Guideline Held in
Beijing
An internal discussion workshop was held on 13 May in Beijing to discuss the
initial draft of national guideline submitted in April. The purpose of the
discussion was to finalize the basic qualitative criteria and quantitative standards
for commercial banks to review loan applications from steel and iron sector.
On 25 May, a workshop reviewing revised guideline draft was held at PRCEE.
Mr. Yuan Qingdan, the Deputy Director-General chaired the meeting. Ms. Li
Xiaowen, Deputy Director from the Statistics Department of CBRC attended the
meeting and provided feedbacks. Other attendants included experts from China
Industrial and Economic Federation, China Steel and Iron Association and China
Academy of Social Sciences. ICBC, Industrial Bank, China Construction Bank
and China EXIM Bank sent representatives to participate in the discussion. Deputy
Director-General of
PRCEE, Mr.
YUAN, Qingdan
(2nd to the left) was
speaking at the
review workshop
on 25 May.
Ms. Li Xiaowen
(1st to the left)
from CBRC was
present at the
meeting.
The interaction between the industry and banks generated productive outputs
and good thinking on methodology. Bank representatives and industry experts
were focusing on how to make the guideline easily understood and used by
bankers by setting measurable and simple indicators in sound and logic
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2. categories. Six banks submitted their initial feedbacks in writing on the first draft.  Mr. Su Yi (3rd in
The second draft was submitted on 12 June based on the feedbacks collected the left), an expert
from the workshop. SynTao is coordinating with stakeholders for further inputs from Environment
and comments. This draft is expected to be finalized in early August. Engineering
Evaluation Centre,
Ministry of
Environmental
Protection is
presenting the draft
guideline. Dr. Guo
Peiyuan (second in
the left), General
Manager of SynTao
was present at the
workshop on 25th
May.
 SynTao Facilitates UNEP FI’s Visit to China
Head of UNEP Finance Initiative, Mr. Paul Clements Hunt visited China in
early June. During his visit, SynTao facilitated his meetings with PRCEE of For more
Ministry of Environmental Protection, some financial institutions and leading information about
Chinese media. On 2nd June, Mr. Hunt was invited as a guest speaker at the high the lecture, please
profile Sohu Green Channel “Green Competitiveness Lecture” Broadcast themed click here (Chinese
in “Can Green Finance Bring More Profit to the Financial Industry?” It was well only)
attended by Chinese bank representatives and officials from the Ministry of
Environmental Protection. SynTao General Manager, Dr. Guo Peiyuan was also
speaking at the broadcasting lecture.
Mr. Hunt later received exclusive interview by the leading national newspaper, See interview
Nanfang Weekly, claiming that green finance would be very promising in China. “Green Finance is a
He also indicated that UNEP FI was planning to set up a representative office in good business” by
China by this year and would organize the first Annual Meeting in China in 2013. Nanfang Weekly.
SynTao strengthened cooperative contacts with UNEP FI after the first foreign
experts’ training to Chinese bankers in late January. Mr. Robert Tacon, former
UNEP FI Chair and a foreign trainer under this project, helped follow up with the
Secretariat in Geneva.
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3.  Survey Shows Local Commercial Bank Interested in Practical and
Simple Green Credit Guideline
Sichuan project team led by Sichuan Environmental Protection Department
submitted a report after surveying eight local commercial banks in early April.
With the support from Sichuan CBRC, the team surveyed both state banks and
privately owned banks. Almost all participants explicitly expressed interests in
getting involved in the guideline development and came up with expectations of
what the guideline should look like and be used. “Be practical and keeping it
straightforward”, “more scientific and simple quantitative requirements”,
“explanation of identifying environmental risks and timely supply of the business
environmental performance records” are most concerned issues.
The team also visited the biggest steel and iron producer in the province and
the company suggested the guideline reflect unique features of the industry in the
province, include mining industry’s environmental performance in the guideline,
and highlight the efficiency of the comprehensive use of the unique iron ore
resources.
 Consultation Workshop on Implementation of Green Credit Policy Held
in Chengdu
A consultation workshop was organized by Sichuan Environmental Protection
Department (EPD) at the conference centre of Sichuan CBRC on 28 April.
Representatives from eight commercial banks and scholars from Sichuan
Academy of Environmental Sciences attended the meeting. The purpose of the
event was to further consult banking sector’s implementation progress of the
Green Credit Policy. In total, as of March 2010, these eight major banks lent to 32
steel and iron enterprises in Sichuan with total loan balance of 15.9 billion CNY
(around 1.59 billion GBP). The non-performing loan rate was zero by then seems
to demonstrate sound risk control capacity of these banks. However, banks
expressed concerns on emerging new environmental risks due to shortage of
industrial professionals to help identify and manage potential risks. How much
the guideline can regulate the whole value chain of the industry in Sichuan was
one of the key debating points.
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4.  Mr. Wang Xing
(3rd in the right),
Division Director of
Statistics
Department of
Sichuan CBRC
Chaired the
meeting.
Ms. Lv Xiaotong
(1st to right), from
Sichuan
Environmental
Policy Research
Institute leads the
research.
 SynTao Invited to SPF Implementer Roundtable in Beijing
SynTao was invited to participate in a networking event of Strategic
Programme Fund (SPF) held at the British Embassy on 1 June, 2010. The
Roundtable sponsored by SPF Low Carbon High Growth Programme invited
current implementers across China to meet SPF programme officers from China,
Brazil, India and the Head Office in London. The purpose of the event was to
help these SPF Programme officers to better understand the key policy areas and
drivers for shifts in policy and the role of project interventions (including SPF),
issues and challenges in China. Role of provincial projects was also discussed.
SynTao General Manager, Dr. Guo Peiyuan shared views of the SPF Low Carbon
High Growth Programme from a project implementer’s perspective.
Sustainable Financing News In China
 New Financing and Investment Policy Promulgated to Support the
Development of China’s Circular Economy
NDRC, PBOC, CBRC and CSRC jointly promulgated “the opinion of new
financing and investment policies and measures to support the development of For more details,
circular economy” on 28th April. This is the first macro-guidance policy on please visit Gov.cn
promoting the development of circular economy since the Circular Economy (Chinese only)
Promotion Law was in effect in August 2008. To enhance the efficiency for
financial institutions’ operation in supporting circular economy, the document
outlines clear project scope for banks to make lending decisions.
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5.  Premier Wen Urges to Eliminate Backward Production Capacity
In the national video conference by the State Council on 5th May, Premier Wen For more details,
please visit here
Jiabao emphasized to prioritize energy saving and emission reduction work to (Chinese only).
achieve the targets of the Eleventh Five-Year Programme. According to the
speech, the state will eliminate backward production capacity of 25 million tons
of iron and 6 million tons of steel.
 China Banking Sector Achieve Good Results in Implementing Green
Credit Policy, says China Banking Sector Annual CSR Report 2009
China Banking Association released China Banking Sector CSR Report 2009 For more details,
on 10th May. It outlines the achievements of the sector in implementing the please visit here.
Green Credit Policy in 2009: exiting loans from 2348 clients which are operating
in “lianggao” industries, increased by 823 compared to the year 2008. Lending to
energy saving projects in the banking sector reaches 856 billion CNY (about 85.6
billion GBP) in 2009, accounting for 8.93% of the total loan portfolio and
benefiting 4099 enterprises in the sector.
 PBOC and CBRC Require Financial Sector to Better Support Energy
Saving and Emission Control Sectors
On 28 May, PBOC and CBRC jointly issued “Opinions of the People's Bank of For more details,
China and the China Banking Regulatory Commission on Providing the Financial please visit here
Services to Further Support the Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction (Chinese only)
and to Eliminate the Unqualified Production Capacities”. This is a follow up of
the State Council meeting on 5th May.
 New loans to High-polluting Industries to be Banned
At a press conference held on 21st June, CBRC ordered financial institutions to For more details,
stop extending new loans to projects already under construction that run foul of please view CRI.
the country's policies of eliminating outdated capacities or saving energy and
cutting emissions. CBRC asked financial institutions to inspect their lending to
energy consuming and high-polluting industries or industries with backward
production capacities. The inspection results should be submitted to the CBRC by
the end of June.
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6.  Chinese Banking Industry Environmental Record (2009 NGO edition)
Launched
Nine Native Environmental NGOs in China jointly released their independent
research report on China’s 14 public-listed commercial banks’ environmental For more details,
performance in May. The study referred to international NGOs’ indicators of please visit here.
banks’ environmental and social performance and localized them to suit China’s
circumstances. Altogether, there are eight indicators are used in this study.
SynTao is the technical advisor to this study.
 ICBC: Lending to Ethiopia Gibe 3 Dam still “Under Review”
June 26, the ICBC's Chief Risk Officer, Wei Guoxiong, accepted an exclusive
interview with China Business News, and revealed that the ICBC "has yet to For more details,
agree and is reviewing" the loan for the Gibe 3 Dam project. "As a global bank, please click here
for those projects affecting the environment, whether domestically or abroad,
ICBC will not support them," Mr. Wei expressed clearly the bank's attitude.
Gibe 3 dam is located in southern Ethiopia's Omo River. The project started in
2008, with a total investment of 16 billion birr (about $1.75 billion). The total
generation capacity is 1,870 MW. It is expected to be completed in 7 years. It
comprises a total of ten generating units, and is currently the largest hydropower
project in Ethiopia.
Sustainable Financing News In UK
 Government Commission Urges Rapid Setting up of Green Investment
Bank
The Green Investment Bank Commission warned that the scale of the looming
crisis means that the government needs to rapidly set up a bank to fund Britain's For more details,
low-carbon future, ideally within the next six months. The new coalition please view
government has estimated that building the new low-carbon infrastructure that the Guardian
UK needs will cost £550bn between now and 2020. The total bill over the next
twenty years could hit £1tn.
The Green Investment Bank was unveiled by the Labor Government in the
Budget 2010 in March, which proposed for a bank size of 2 billion pounds. It was
designed to help finance projects such as railways, offshore wind power
generation and eco-friendly waste management. It was planned to be half-funded
from government asset sales with the remaining one billion pounds coming from
the private sector.
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7.  UK Study Questions FTSE Firms’ Carbon Data Reporting
A UK study released in late March shows that even though investor groups
demand a way to accurately compare sustainability reports, only 75 companies in For more details,
the FTSE 350 published some kind of assurance for sustainability, according to please visit Carbon
the report. Only 62 of these were carried out independently using a recognized Smart.
assurance standard. Many others simply could not verify the emissions they
reported. The report done by Smart Sustainability, which argues for greater
transparency and standardization in sustainability reporting.
 New Governance Rules Introduced For The Equator Principles
The Equator Principles (EPs), announced to formally adopt new Governance For more details,
Rules from 1 July 2010, the result of several years’ intensive work by the Equator please view Equator
Principles Financial Institutions (EPFIs). The Governance Rules ("the Rules"), Principles.
that form the basis of the newly created Equator Principles Association, have
been established to confirm the purpose, operation and management structure of
the Equator Principles. The Rules formalize existing practices and procedures,
increase the transparency of the Association, and will ensure that EPFIs meet
their responsibilities such as public reporting on EP implementation.
Coming Up Soon
 The green credit guideline for steel and iron industry at national level
and provincial level to be finalized by August
 Draft programme for the 2nd foreign trainers’ training to be finalized in
August
 Series of translated literature on sustainable banking will be ready for
dissemination by August
Contact
Ms. NI, Huan,
Project Manager
Green Credit Policy Advisory Project
SynTao Co., Ltd
Room 2302, Jianwai SOHO Building 12, E-mail: nihuan@syntao.com
No.39 East 3rd-Ring Road, Chaoyang District, Tel: (China)+86-10-58699466
Beijing, 100022, China (UK)+44-7894 986 156
Fax: +86-10-58699466 ext. 623 Website: www.syntao.com
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