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Greening the Belt and Road Initiative Wwf’S Recommendations for the Finance Sector

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Greening the Belt and Road Initiative Wwf’S Recommendations for the Finance Sector GREENING THE BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE WWF’S RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE FINANCE SECTOR IN PARTNERSHIP CONTENTS FOREWORD Each and every one of us has a stake in developing a The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was unveiled almost EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 sustainable economic system. The combined response of five years ago by the Chinese government. While many companies, investors, civil society and the public sector global indicators of sustainable development show to global challenges such as climate change, resource improvements, those of nature do not. The urgency 1 THE BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE (BRI) 6 scarcity and societal pressures are key to securing a with which we must act to restore nature has become 1.1 Introduction 8 prosperous future. increasingly clear – WWF’s Living Planet Report 2016 tells us that global populations of fish, birds, mammals, 1.2 Financing the BRI 10 As we scale up infrastructure to address growth needs amphibians and reptiles declined by 58% since 1970 it is important to take Environmental, Social and 1.3 The BRI and the Sustainable Development Goals 11 and that we are currently on course to lose as much as Governance factors into account, but there are obstacles two thirds by 2020. This loss of wildlife is a barometer Box 1. Defining key terms around sustainable infrastructure 12 to achieving this. This report provides practical guidelines of the wider damage to our natural environment, which on the environmental risks related to infrastructure with is threatening the very life support systems upon which particular emphasis on the Belt and Road Initiative. 2 ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES 14 we depend. Nature provides the air we breathe, the food For more than a decade, HSBC has been at the forefront of we eat, and the water we drink. Action must urgently 2.1 Environmental risks 14 the sustainable finance market. In November 2017, HSBC be taken to restore this natural capital, to provide a Box 2. Sustainable infrastructure guidance: 19 made five sustainable finance pledges. We committed to sustainable future. standards, tools and approaches provide $100bn of sustainable financing and investment The BRI is the largest infrastructure programme the by 2025, source 100% of electricity from renewable 2.2 Environmental opportunities 20 world has ever seen. It offers both opportunities and sources by 2030, reduce our exposure to thermal coal risks – for investors, for sustainable development, and 2.3 Obstacles to seizing the opportunities 22 and actively manage the transition path for other high for natural resources. Such is the scale of the BRI that it carbon sectors, adopt the recommendations of the task is crucial that it contributes to long-term prosperity and force on climate related financial disclosures to improve 3 GREENING THE BRI: THE WAY FORWARD 24 environmental protection. transparency, as well as leading and shaping the debate around sustainable finance and investment. We will work Financial institutions have a key role to play to ensure 3.1 Sustainable investment principles 24 with internal and external partners like WWF to achieve that the many programmes and projects of the BRI are 3.2 Recommended actions 25 these aims. delivered in ways that invest in and enhance our natural capital and ensure a net gain for our environment. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 27 This short publication has been produced with the Zoë Knight support of HSBC. In it, we highlight the environmental Group Head, HSBC Centre of Sustainable Finance opportunities and risks of the BRI. We provide practical APPENDIX 28 suggestions for standards, tools and approaches. And we outline a number of sustainable investment principles that we believe should be implemented from the outset of projects and mainstreamed within them. We hope this publication can help to maximise the potential for the BRI to be an exemplar of sustainable development, and minimise the risks of significant environmental damage it could otherwise generate. © JUSTIN JIN / WWF-US Tanya Steele COVER: Chief Executive WWF-UK © BRENT STIRTON / GETTY IMAGES WWF-UK © UNSPLASH.COM 4 GREENING THE BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE GREENING THE BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE 5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY As the largest ever infrastructure THE BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE The report identifies six obstacles to the development of FIGURE 1: programme, the Belt and Road Initiative sustainable infrastructure: RECOMMENDED ACTIONS FOR THE FINANCE SECTOR • The BRI, covering 72 countries, is the largest ever 1. Environmental design requirements are not integrated TO GREEN THE BRI (BRI) will reshape development for the infrastructure programme with total projected in the project cycle, in particular early-stage project coming decades. The finance sector and investments of US$8 trillion until 2049; current annual planning. Integrate other actors have a tremendous opportunity investment is around US$150 billion. 2. A plethora of sustainability standards and assessment Set up a vehicle to provide preferential funding for to contribute to sustainable development • The main aims of the BRI are to increase regional methods makes it difficult for financial investors to infrastructure projects that have been designed using planning connectivity and economic integration. and environmental protection by mitigating ensure they invest only in sustainable infrastructure. approaches that include early stage multi-stakeholder, cross- sectoral and landscape-wide integrated environmental and negative environmental impacts of • Three-quarters of BRI projects until 2017 were in power 3. The business case that sustainable investments can development planning. (particularly hydro and coal-fired power plants) as well infrastructure and investing in natural generate a positive return has not been demonstrated. as transport infrastructure. Work with others to provide guidance on how different standards capital. However, significant action by all 4. Lack of information on sustainable and green and tools compare and for what purposes they are best, and use this guidance to assess environmental and social risks. stakeholders will be required to ensure investment opportunities. the BRI delivers sustainable outcomes. 5. Risk-adjusted returns are too low for some sustainable ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES Demonstrate The finance sector can play a key role in infrastructure designs because investments in The report identifies the following categories of sustainability are not adequately compensated by Launch a ’Greening the BRI‛ lighthouse fund to test and delivering sustainable infrastructure by environmental risks associated with infrastructure revenue streams or public incentives. demonstrate the business case for selected sustainable BRI requiring best practices in infrastructure development: infrastructure investments. planning, design, construction, and 6. Greening the BRI has not yet attracted wide attention in the finance sector and the wider private sectors. Set up an open access database for sustainable BRI operation. WWF is keen to support INPUT-RELATED CATEGORIES infrastructure projects and use it further develop the financial institutions in this journey. Inputs to production that have an impact on natural We list a number of tools and approaches that can Sustainable Infrastructure Opportunity Index. capital, climate and biodiversity: help to overcome these obstacles and implement the recommendations. Ecosystem use Scale up Water use Engage with policy-makers to establish frameworks that Other resource use incentivise sustainable BRI infrastructure investments that are GREENING THE BRI: THE WAY FORWARD currently not financially viable. WWF proposes sustainable investment principles for all Set up a cross-sector ’Greening the BRI‛ learning and OUTPUT-RELATED CATEGORIES infrastructure investments: leadership platform and work with others to draw attention to the BRI’s environmental risks and opportunities and ways to Non-product outputs of production that impact 1. Only invest in sustainable infrastructure, in compliance respond to them. natural capital, climate and biodiversity: with environmental regulations, best practice planning approaches, strong stakeholder involvement, Greenhouse gas emissions transparency and monitoring of impacts (as defined Non-greenhouse gas air pollutants below). Water pollutants 2. Aim to invest only in future-proofed environmentally Solid waste friendly infrastructure. 3. Only invest in infrastructure outside or not negatively A BRI infrastructure heat map assesses the impacting natural habitats with a critical role for the environmental risks for the different types of BRI ecosystem. associated infrastructures. WWF makes recommendations to the finance sector in Several types of energy and transport infrastructure three main areas: projects (particularly coal, hydro and shipping) pose 1. Integrate sustainability in infrastructure decision- particularly significant environmental risks, e. g. for making. biodiversity and climate. 2. Demonstrate the sustainable business opportunity. 3. Scale up sustainable infrastructure. These are outlined in Figure 1. 6 GREENING THE BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE GREENING THE BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE 7 1 THE BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE (BRI) FIGURE 2: LOCATIONS OF BRI-RELATED PROJECTS 3 7 28 11 30 11 10 X % of BRI projects (rough estimate) Economic corridors Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar China-Central West Asia China-Indochina Peninsula China-Mongolia-Russia China-Pakistan New Eurasian Land Bridge Twenty-First-Century Maritime Silk Road Source: MCPS (2017); HKTDC (2017);
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