Financial Sector Ecology Question 5

From RankaBrand

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Question

Does the brand's policies for sectors producing and consuming chemicals insist on compliance with the 'precautionary principle'?

Dutch version:

German version: Gehört zur Unternehmenspolitik dieser Marke, dass Branchen, die Chemikalien produzieren oder nutzen, das „Vorsorgeprinzip“ einhalten müssen?

References:

The bank’s policy should ensure that it will only be involved in the financing of companies which adhere in a systematic way to the precautionary principle. In developing such a policy, the bank could make use of the best international standards available as described above. But for an issue which is dominated by uncertainty about future impacts, it should be stressed that just following best international standards is not good enough, and the precautionary principle should be the foundation of any policy (Mind The Gap, p. 104).

Ranking guidelines:

Financing and Underwriting – Only reward ‘yes’ when requires clients to comply with the ‘precautionary principle’, which means these clients only use chemicals which have been scientifically proven not to cause irreversible harm to humans or the environment.

Investing – Reward ‘yes’ if brand only invests in companies in the sector adhering to the precautionary principle with respect to chemicals OR only invests in best in class from an environmental perspective for sectors producing and consuming high quantities of chemicals.