China sets a green standard

China’s efforts to green its financial sector have earned a thumbs-up from US environmentalists, who say regulators in the US could learn from Beijing’s recent success in stimulating investments that don’t despoil the planet.

Friends of the Earth-US, highlighted in a recent report Chinese financial sector policies designed to limit pollution and climate change and to encourage lenders and investors to take a longer-term and broader view of risk, one that factors in the risk of losses stemming from potential environmental problems.
Michelle Chan, an author of the report, urged regulators in

Washington to draw on the Chinese experience as they craft new rules for the troubled US banking sector.

“Because of the financial crisis and bailout, we in the US have a historic opportunity to update regulations in ways that enable Wall Street to finance a sustainable future,” said Michelle Chan, an author of the report. “China offers some interesting examples of how sustainability can be incorporated into financial regulation.”

The study, “The Green Evolution: Environmental Policies and Practice in China’s Banking Sector”, hailed regulations that it says are working to prohibit Chinese banks from lending to companies not in compliance with environmental laws.

Asia Times