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Equator Principles
As a member of the Equator Principles Association since 2006, we seek to ensure the projects we finance and advise on are developed in a manner that is socially responsible and reflect sound environmental management practices.
Our reporting page on the Equator Principles' website can be found here.
The Equator Principles is a risk management framework for determining, assessing and managing social and environmental risks in large infrastructure and industrial projects.
We commit to implementing the Equator Principles through our internal environmental and social policies, procedures and standards for financing projects. We will not provide Project Finance, Project-Related Corporate Loans to Projects or Project-Related Refinance and Project-Related Acquisition Finance to projects which do not comply with the relevant Equator Principles requirements. These types of finance we refer to collectively as “Project Finance”.
We use the Equator Principles as a minimum standard for due diligence and monitoring to support responsible decision-making for Project Finance.
We will engage a third-party expert to prepare a social and environmental due diligence report where our initial due diligence indicates a likely Category A or Category B rating under the Equator Principles. The report will assess the project’s compliance with the Equator Principles and typically considers the following issues:
- Social and environmental risks arising from the project
- Customer capacity to manage social and environmental issues
- How an Environmental Impact Assessment (if any) will be implemented through the company’s Environmental Management System
- The level of community concern regarding potential impacts of the project, for example on water or land, and effectiveness of the company’s stakeholder engagement in response
The Equator Principles complement our sensitive sector Requirements and our Social and Environmental Risk Policy which also apply to Project Finance transactions.
Click here for more information about the Equator Principles and click here for more information about ANZ's approach to social and evironmental risk management.
Projects assessed as being within the scope are evaluated against the Equator Principles, including against comprehensive international performance standards (“IFC performance standards”) on issues such as labour and working conditions, natural resource management, pollution prevention, impacts on Indigenous people, community health and safety and universal themes such as gender and human rights.
Projects with a high social or environmental impact are required to consult with local communities about concerns those communities may have. Following consultation they must then prepare a management and monitoring plan describing the actions needed to adequately mitigate the social and environmental risks of the project.
We are required under the Equator Principles to ensure these steps are carried out in collaboration with our customers.
We provide further details on our application of the Equator Principles in our ESG reporting.
ANZ's 2024 Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) Supplement
This report provides detailed information on ANZ's focus on bringing our purpose to life through helping tackle significant societal challenges that are core to our business strategy and matter to society.