Finally, Real Action from Big Banks on Deforestation

Mighty Earth highlights a new palm oil policy from BNP Paribas that requires financed companies to protect forests, indigenous people, and adhere to human rights and labor standards. The author argues that this shift reflects a growing trend where deforestation is becoming a business liability, citing the $4 billion value decline of IOI following its suspension by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. The document calls for other financial institutions to adopt similar policies and urges BNP Paribas and HSBC to apply these standards to POSCO Daewoo, which has cleared 99 square kilometers of forest in Papua, Indonesia, between September 2015 and April 2017.

• BNP Paribas has introduced a palm oil policy that makes responsible production a prerequisite for financing, requiring companies to protect forests and indigenous people, follow human rights and labor standards, stop using hazardous pesticides, and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
• Financial institutions are increasingly viewing deforestation as a business liability due to market exclusion and stock price volatility, as seen when the share price of Malaysian company IOI dropped nearly 15% (a $4 billion loss) after being suspended by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil.
• POSCO Daewoo, a South Korean industrial giant, is identified as a test case for new bank policies; its subsidiary PT Bio Inti Agrindo (BIA) cleared 99 square kilometers of forest in Papua, Indonesia, from September 2015 to April 2017, with 24 square kilometers cleared in the first four months of 2017.
• Several other financial institutions have faced pressure to adopt responsible financing policies, including DBS Bank, HSBC, and those targeted by campaigns from Rainforest Foundation Norway, Rainforest Action Network, and Friends of the Earth.

APA

Jones, S. (2017). Finally, Real Action from Big Banks on Deforestation. Mighty Earth. https://mightyearth.org/article/finally-real-action-from-big-banks-on-deforestation/

Chicago

Jones, Sydney. Finally, Real Action from Big Banks on Deforestation. Mighty Earth, 2017. https://mightyearth.org/article/finally-real-action-from-big-banks-on-deforestation/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Jones |first1=Sydney |title=Finally, Real Action from Big Banks on Deforestation |publisher=Mighty Earth |date=6 June 2017 |url=https://mightyearth.org/article/finally-real-action-from-big-banks-on-deforestation/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{jones2017finally, author = {Jones, Sydney}, title = {{Finally, Real Action from Big Banks on Deforestation}}, publisher = {Mighty Earth}, year = {2017}, month = jun, url = {https://mightyearth.org/article/finally-real-action-from-big-banks-on-deforestation/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }