"Changes to China’s Banking Law Could Help – or Hurt – the Planet", 15 October 2021

[...] Some years ago, two Chinese banks were found by a Chinese NGO to be financing a company that had been polluting Han Jiang, a major river in the central region of China. The Chinese NGO – which had successfully brought China’s first environmental public litigation case, forcing four individuals who operated a mining operation to restore the forest that they had destroyed or pay a fine of 1.27 million Chinese renminbi (approximately $200,000) – decided to take action. [...]

The Chinese Banking Association, on behalf of 36 Chinese banks and 24 international banks, just announced a new declaration to support biodiversity conservation, which includes a welcome commitment that the banks will “strive to avoid and mitigate” negative impacts their financing has on nature.

However, such voluntary initiatives, like the Principles for Responsible Banking, to which several Chinese banks have signed up, are unlikely to deter Chinese banks and their global peers from financing biodiversity loss. [...]

One of the most important laws governing the Chinese banking sector, the law on commercial banks, is currently being revised. A new clause that explicitly requires the banking sector not to finance companies that are exacerbating the climate crisis or are linked to deforestation and other types of biodiversity loss could be transformative in achieving China’s green ambitions. [...]