Date: March 12, 2013 Source: Fuzhou Daily
Nothing is better than the water of hometown; no feeling is stronger than the love of hometown. Industrial Bank (IB) Fuzhou Branch transforms the deep feeling to its hometown into social responsibilities, drawing a landscape scroll of “beautiful Fuzhou” by mobilizing the power of green finance vigorously.
Over the past seven years, from launching the first energy-efficient financing program and carbon finance program, to taking the lead in promising to follow the Equator Principles and to offering the first low-carbon credit card in China, IB Fuzhou Branch has, under the leading of the Head Office, become the advocator of sustainable finance concept, the forerunner of green finance businesses, and the firm supporter of the national cause of energy conservation and emission reduction in Fuzhou. By the end of 2012, the branch has granted green finance based loans of nearly RMB 4 billion to enterprises across the city.
Recently, the movement of “Banks in the Eyes of CPPCC Members” jointly organized by Fuzhou Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Fuzhou Financial Service Office and Fuzhou Daily came to IB Fuzhou Branch. On the site, CPPCC members gave full recognition to the achievements made by IB as the pacemaker of green finance.
The forerunner of green finance “obtaining reasonable profits while bringing benefits to the stakeholders”
It is set out in the Report of the 18th CPC National Congress to fulfill the vision of “Beautiful China” by building ecological civilization. The building of ecological civilization has been put at an unparalleled position.
In a recent interview with media, Board Chairman Gao Jianping of IB also indicated that green, energy conservation, environmental protection and sustainability were the essential and indispensable core ideas for the “Construction of Beautiful China” proposed in the 18 th CPC National Congress. In this perspective, the concept of “green finance” that IB has advocated in recent years fully tallies with the core ideas of “Beautiful China”.
“As the first and only Equator bank in China, IB will unswervingly practice the Equator Principles, respond to the call of the 18 th CPC National Congress for the ‘Building of Ecological Civilization', and continue sparing no effort to push the business development of green finance in the bank", said a relevant officer-in-charge of IB Fuzhou Branch.
The best evidence is data. By the end of 2012, IB Fuzhou Branch has accumulatively granted nearly RMB 4 billion of green finance based loans to enterprise in Fuzhou with a variety of financial tools, with the business balance exceeding RMB 2 billion.
This means that, if all the projects are implemented, the emission reduced a year is equivalent to shutting off 2 thermal power plants of 100 MW or stopping running nearly 5,000 taxis for 10 years. All of these will be great contributions to the construction of an ecological and livable “beautiful Fuzhou”.
Green credit giving priority to supporting environment-friendly industries
“Green Credit” should be managed well to decorate the “Beautiful China”. With the vigorous promotion of green finance by IB Fuzhou Branch, energy conservation and emission reduction projects have been implemented in Fuzhou one after another, and a number of images reflecting the ecological Fuzhou become increasingly clear and vivid.
Let's focus on a refuse dump in Pingtan County, which is a main place of the county to dispose the urban domestic garbage at present. However, due to its long service, the site had fallen into the predicament–lack of anti-seeping system, gas-guiding and seepage-guiding systems, and measures for collecting and disposing leachate. For this reason, the project of domestic garbage incineration for power generation came into existence.
In this February, the first loan of RMB 120 million was formally granted by IB Fuzhou Branch to a project of garbage incineration for power generation in the county for improving the waste disposing capacity and boosting the county to treating urban domestic garbage as resources in a reducing and harmless manner.
It is reported that, after completion, the project may dispose about 300,000 tons of domestic garbage a year, with a power generation capacity up to 84 million kWh, and it can save 35,200 tons of coal equivalent a year. This will save a lot of non-renewable energy for the country.
IB Fuzhou Branch protects the mountains and waters of Fuzhou like an environment guard, showing special favor for energy conservation and environmental protection projects in particular.
In 2012, IB Fuzhou Branch also extended green finance based loan to a tap water company of the city. This part of green capital will be used to maintaining and reconstructing the urban water supply network to ensure, on the one hand, the regular water demand of industrial and agricultural production and the daily living of residents, and to reduce, on the other hand, the leakage rate of the water supply network and improve the supply benefits, so as to achieve the aim of conserving water, energy and resources.
Tailored intensive operation of “8+1” financing service model
During the rise of a beautiful Fuzhou, IB is releasing a range of more vigorous “green finance” measures and define its own positioning in the new age to boost the construction of a “Beautiful China”.
In the process of practicing green finance actively, on the one hand, IB has lent vigorous support to industries and projects related to low-carbon economy, recycling economy, ecological economy, and energy conservation and emission reduction, and supported the responsible corporate customers that have the awareness of sustainable development and combine business operation with performance of social responsibilities.
On the other hand, the bank has carried out in-depth research in the fields related to green economy, energy conservation and emission reduction, providing professional green finance products and services through sustained innovation. In recent years, IB timely released “8+1” financing service model considering different demands of customers and project types. “8” refers to the utilization of eight conventional credit modes, including energy conservation and emission reduction project financing, financing under CDM, energy management company (EMC) financing, credit financing for purchaser of energy-conserving and emission-reducing equipment supplier, financing for the production increase of energy-conserving and emission-reducing equipment manufacturer, financing for utilities service supplier, financing lease, and emission right pledge-based financing. “1” refers to the non-credit financing mode, covering the issuance of debt financing tools including short-term bonds, medium-term notes and SME collection notes, financial lease, structure financing, and trust financing, etc.
By utilizing these innovative products effectively, IB people have left their footprints in a great number of key environmental projects in the Western Taiwan Straits, ranging from large local projects of wind power, energy storage and power generation, supercritical thermal power, and garbage incineration, to the construction of domestic sewage treatment and tap water pipe network and the replacement of new energy bus, and to energy performance contracting (EPC) and CDM carbon assets pledged financing…
In particular, what's worth noting is that IB Fuzhou Branch implemented the first Chinese CDM carbon assets pledge of hydropower station in 2011, which has been reported broadly by well-known media both at home and abroad including CCTV and Reuters.
In the process of singing “Beautiful China” aloud, IB people are composing more appealing movements with their own wisdom and efforts.