13 Apr 2016

…For over a decade, the OECD has promoted recommendations for E[export Credit Agencies (ECAs)] with respect to the environmental and, more recently, the social due diligence that they should conduct on applications for export credits. Known as the “Common Approaches”, these recommendations apply to all OECD member states and are intended to guide the work of their official ECAs. While the Common Approaches were updated in 2012 to recognize the relevance of the Guiding Principles to the provision of export credits, they did not provide any further guidance on how human rights due diligence relates to ECAs' existing environmental and social due diligence. Now for the first time, in the revised Common Approaches published by the OECD Council…there is an explicit statement that ECAs should screen all applications covered by the Common Approaches for severe human rights risks…Other financial institutions tend to face similar challenges about integrating human rights into existing due diligence…