The project finance industry is facing pressure to strengthen its management of ethical risks as the International Finance Corporation (IFC) prepares to publish stricter social and environmental standards. The new-look standards are set to be approved by the IFC board later this month and, if passed, they will mark a shift forward from the commitments made by many of the world’s biggest banks under the Equator Principles.
These principles, launched in 2003, establish a system for considering non-financial risks related to large-scale project finance schemes. They currently use the IFC’s earlier standards as their point of reference.
