One of China’s big six state-owned banks has become the second Chinese lender to sign up for the Principles for Responsible Banking framework developed by the United Nations.
The Postal Savings Bank of China (PSBC) has just officially become a signatory to the Principles, as well as joined the United Nations Environment Programs Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) in the process.
The Principles are a framework for achieving sustainability in the banking system developed by UNEP FI. According to UNEP FI the Principles seek to “embed sustainability at the strategic, portfolio and transaction levels, and across all business areas” of signatory banks.
Signatory banks are required to analyse the impacts of their business activities on people and the planet upon joining the Principles, before setting targets to address areas of impact.
They are then required to report publicly on their progress in achieving these targets 18 months after becoming signatories, as well as fulfil them within four years.
229 banks are currently signatories to the Principles, including Sichuan Tianfu Bank (四川天府银行), which joined in February of this year.
As of the end of 2020 PSBC had a green loan balance of 280.936 billion yuan, for YoY growth of 30.20%, 9.9 percentage points ahead of the average for the banking sector.
