A Call for Contributions on the topic of Sustainable Banking
Greenleaf Publishing invites contributions in the area of Sustainable Banking for a special issue
of the journal Greener Management International (GMI) to be Guest Edited by Leon Klinkers
(PricewaterhouseCoopers), Dr Jan Jaap Bouma (Erasmus University) and Marcel Jeucken
(RaboBank).
As early as the Earth Summit in 1992, banks issued a declaration on the financial sector and
sustainable development. The Statement by Banks on the Environment and Sustainable
Development, organised by UNEP, was revised in 1997 to Financial Services and has now been
signed by over 100 financial organisations who endorse the need to take account of
environmental issues in their operational and decision-making procedures. The statement was
emulated by the insurance sector in March 1996 at the Berlin meeting of the Climate Change
Convention. Many analysts believe that there are strong incentives both internal and external for
banks and insurance companies to take an interest such issues. For instance:
* The management of financial, legal and reputational risks associated with environmental
issues which may arise within credit or investment activities.
* The improvement of internal operational efficiency and the reduction of operating costs.
* Opportunities to develop new financial products and services linked to environmental or social
performance. Pressures from both corporate and retail customers to demonstrate sound
environmental/social performance.
* Competition from other financial services organisations, nationally and internationally seeking
to improve market positioning through the adoption and implementation of environmental
policies.
Many financial service providers have introduced environmental policies. However, at present,
there are wide variations even between leading organisations in the precise scope and content of
these policies. Among the signatories to the (unaudited) UNEP statement for example, research
undertaken by London-based Green Alliance in 1997 found only patchy progress towards
integrating environmental considerations into activities particularly with regard to investment
policies and new products and services. More recent research on the same grouping by
PricewaterhouseCoopers indicates that considerable problems remain in translating
environmental considerations into tangible financial performance a problem exacerbated by the
lack of comparable performance data. On this latter point, UK consultants SustainAbility have
argued that the financial community should be playing a pivotal role in asking more questions
and requiring fuller financial disclosure by companies to both screen investments and minimise
risk as well as encouraging the use of greater benchmarking in company reports.
The banking sector is now being confronted with both the consequences of environmental policy
and the opportunities it presents. However, in order to provide new ecological services they will
need appropriate tools.
The intention for the special issue of GMI is to present perspectives and case studies from both
the financial services sector and academia from across the world in order to try and evaluate
progress and provide answers on the sort of tools that may be useful in improving performance.
The editors are particularly interested in papers that address:
* The assessment of environment-related risk.
* The development of environment/social-related products and services, such as green or ethical
investment funds, or loans for environmental improvement projects.
* Internal operational policies and practices. For example: property management; procurement;
waste management and energy management.
* Environmental Training
* Customer and stakeholder awareness-raising and communications, including both the reporting
of environmental performance and the use of sponsorship.
* Environmental investment and lending in developing countries particularly with regard to
technology transfer.
* Environmental investment and lending in clean technologies, such as renewable energy.
* The implications of climate change on banking policies
* The role of international organisations
Schedule
Abstracts of 200-300 words should be sent to Dr Jan Jaap Bouma prior to June 30th, 1999. These
should ideally be sent as e-mail attachments. Contributors whose abstracts are felt appropriate
for the project will be invited to submit full papers for publication in the special issue of Greener
Management International by October 1st 1999, which is scheduled for publication in November,
1999.
For further information or to discuss ideas for contributions, please contact the Guest Editor
contact point:
Dr Jan Jaap Bouma
Erasmus Centre for Environmental Studies,
Erasmus University Rotterdam,
PO Box 1738
3000 DR Rotterdam,
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 10 408 2050
Fax: +31 10 408 9104
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Sample copies of Greener Management International and contribution guidelines relevant for the
project can be obtained from:
John Stuart
Managing Director
Greenleaf Publishing
Aizlewood Business Centre,
Aizelwood=D5s Mill,
Sheffield S3 8GG
UK
Tel: +44 (0)114 282 3475
Fax: +44 (0)114 282 3476
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
http://www.greenleaf-publishing.com
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