In June 2019, the Sustainable Banking: Social and Environmental Impact Management of Financial Institutions, a cutting-edge book in the field of international sustainable banking, introduced and translated by IB, was published by China Environment Press. The book, which is part of the Equator Principles and Sustainable Development of Banks series, has effectively filled a gap in the literature of sustainable banking practice in China and is another work completed by IB’s Equator Principles and Sustainable Development of Banks team, following the publication of Green to Gold: Empirical Study of Sustainable Banking Based on the Equator Principles in September 2017.
The authors of the original English book are Professor Olaf Weber, Principal Research Fellow in Sustainable Finance at the University of Waterloo and Canada Chair in Environmental Finance for Export Development, and Professor Blair Feltmate, Director of the Centre to Address Climate Change at the University of Waterloo and Chair of the Canadian Federal Government’s Expert Panel on Climate Change. As the first foreign language book introduced and translated by IB, the book provides a comprehensive coverage of cutting-edge theories and practices in the field of sustainable finance from an international perspective, including sustainable finance practice of traditional banks, emerging socially responsible investment, community bank and impact investment, which also serves as a direct strategic management advice, fully encompassing the product forms, business models and management methods of sustainable finance in presenting a panoramic view of sustainable banking for the global banking industries. These are likely to become the main development trends and mainstream forms of green and inclusive finance in the future, and are of great reference value in enriching the domestic sustainable finance system, inspiring innovation in sustainable finance products and expanding the business boundaries of sustainable banks, as well as providing the guidance and direction for the whole financial industry to reshape its financial power for the well-being of the society as a whole.
At present, the construction of ecological civilization is an important and indispensable part of the overall layout of the “five-in-one” socialist project in China, namely, coordination and promotion of economic, political, cultural, social and ecological constructions under the overall layout of socialist cause with Chinese characteristics. The report of the 19th CPC National Congress clearly pointed out that building an ecological civilization is a “millennium plan” for the sustainable development of the Chinese nation, and emphasizes the importance of relying on market mechanisms to promote the construction of ecological civilization, pointing the ways for the financial industry to play a key role in promoting the reform of ecological civilization system and activating market mechanisms.
As a sustainable bank and a pioneer in green finance in mainland China, IB took the lead in opening the green finance business in 2006, became the first EPFI in mainland China to voluntarily adopt the Equator Principles in 2008, and now, has formed a group but various green finance product and service system covering green financing, green leasing, green trust, green fund, green wealth management and green consumption, and become the largest commercial financial institution in the world with the largest balance of green finance bonds issued. Accordingly, green finance has quietly become a featured IB brand. Through innovative exploration for more than 10 years, IB has also developed a sustainable development path of “integrating righteousness with profitability, from Green to Gold”.
By the end of March 2019, IB had made a judgment in 1,090 projects on the applicability of the Equator Principles, of which 418 projects applied the Equator Principles, with a total investment of RMB 1,816.9 billion. At the same time, it had provided the financing of green finance to 17,636 enterprises for a total of RMB 1,858.4 billion, with a financing balance of RMB 886.1 billion, and the projects supported could save the consumption of 29.84 million tons of standard coal and water of 410 million tons, and reduce the emission of 84.22 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year.
“IB’s pioneering exploration and continuous cultivation in the field of sustainable finance not only reflects its noble mission and commitment to ‘exploring the ways for financial reform and making more contributions to economic development’, but also demonstrates its national sentiment in pursuing the path of sustainable development. It is with this national sentiment that IB insists on ‘integrating righteousness with profitability’, and has always been committed to combining corporate social responsibility with business behaviors to achieve its own sustainable development while helping achieve sustainable social and economic development ”, writes Tao Yiping, IB President, in the Preface to the book. Through this book, IB also hopes to draw more attention to sustainable finance and to further understand the contribution of the financial sector to the sustainable development of modern society.