Focus on Arts and Ecology

A new report from Chatham House calls on China’s government and policy banks to improve the sustainability of infrastructure projects built under the banner of the Belt and Road initiative. Policy banks need to “encourage government borrowers to use sustainable procurement,” and “increase the incentives for borrowers to develop more sustainable projects”, says the report. It also calls on the government to ensure that companies operating overseas first meet sustainability criteria, and push banks to deliver more robust reporting on their green finance activities. The report notes that the potential scale of investments under the Belt and Road initiative is so great that meeting the Paris Agreement target of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels may not be possible unless rigorous criteria for sustainability are adopted.

For more on this topic, don’t miss our recent interview with Sherry Madera, chair of the Green Belt and Road Investor Alliance.