February 2, 2010, the awards ceremony for the sixth “China Baosteel Environment Prize” was held in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. The Industrial Bank stood out from the crowd to claim the “China Baosteel Environmental Excellence Prize”. This is attributable to the bank's achievements in the fields of sustainable finance and green credit. With this, the Industrial Bank has become the first financial institution to receive this award.
The “China Baosteel Environment Prize” was founded in 2000 by the Ministry of Environmental Protection together with 13 ministries, commissions and organizations, including the Environment and Resources Protection Committee of the National People's Congress and the Ministry of Civil Affairs. The Baoteel Environment Prize is China 's most distinguished social award in the field of environmental protection. It aims to commend groups and individuals that have made outstanding contributions to the cause of environmental protection, promote the implementation of Scientific Outlook on Development, spread the concept of the green economy and stimulate sound economic and social development.
Under the backdrop of the economic crisis, the theme of this year's “China Baosteel Environment Prize” was “green economy and sustainable development”. This theme is about reflecting on traditional carbon-reliant modes of development, bringing an end to economic growth at the expense of resources and environment, advocating the notion of sustainable development and promoting green production, green lifestyles and intensive clean production. During an eight-month process involving application, selection, publication and expert evaluation, the organizing committee conducted objective and fair appraisals on the participating organizations and individuals. Great importance was attached to public recognition, with information on nominees being posted in the news media and public opinion sought. More than 330,000 netizens participated in an online vote. These measures indicate a high level of fairness and impartiality. In the end, on the strength of its strategic positioning and practice of integrating morals into profits, implementing sustainable finance and striving for harmony between the environment, people and enterprises, the Industrial Bank won wide-spread recognition from both the organizing committee and the public, and was thus granted the “China Baosteel Environmental Excellence Prize”.
The industrial Bank's exploration and practice in the field of sustainable finance has continued to yield impressive results. The bank has gone from being the first bank in China to offer energy-efficiency and emissions-reduction loans to becoming China's first Equator Bank. It has gone from giving attention to environmental and social risks to taking numerous steps to achieve a balance between man and nature, environment and society, thus exercising a corporate governance policy that emphasizes the bank's social responsibilities. It has gone from strengthening its own internal capacity in environmental and social risk management to assisting other banks and enterprises in achieving sustainable development, thereby achieving mutual benefit. It has gone from refusing projects that fail to meet environmental requirements and strictly implementing green credit standards to reaching out to promote sustainable development in emerging countries.
The organizing committee concluded that the Industrial Bank has elevated sustainable development to the strategic level, and has attached great importance to environmental and social risks in its risk management. By drawing from advanced overseas management experiences, adopting the Equator Principles, establishing an internal environmental and social risk management system, conducting strict internal and external management on environmental and social performance and innovating financial products, the Industrial Bank has made great achievements on both the conceptual and practical levels. The granting of the “China Baosteel Environmental Excellence Prize” to the Industrial Bank is an affirmation of the efforts that the bank has made in green credit and sustainable finance. This award also serves as a form of guidance and encouragement for the entire banking industry to participate in green economy, give full play to their role in financial leverage, and promote sustainable environmental, economic and social development.