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HSBC launches chemicals industry sector guideline
03 August 2005
HSBC has published a new environmental guideline, governing its involvement in the chemicals industry sector. The guideline will ensure that the Group’s activities in this area conform to international, regional and national standards and do not give rise to adverse reputational impacts.
The chemicals industry has been identified as a sector in which environmental and social risks are potentially high and where guidance relating to the Group’s business activities is therefore required.
The guideline is HSBC’s third environmental guideline and follows the publication of its freshwater infrastructure guideline in May 2005 and forest land and forest products guideline in 2004. It covers Agricultural Chemicals, Petrochemicals, Speciality Chemicals and Gases and builds on HSBC’s Environment Risk Standard issued in 2002 and the Group’s adoption in 2003 of the Equator Principles - a set of voluntary guidelines applied to project finance activities.
The guideline applies to all lending and other forms of financial assistance, debt and equity capital markets activities, project finance, advisory and asset management.
In addition to outlining the areas where the HSBC Group is and is not prepared to participate, it also sets out broad principles of good chemical production and handling, helping HSBC’s customers to work towards sustainable chemical management.
Under the guideline, HSBC will not provide facilities and other forms of financial assistance to companies involved in the production of chemical weapons, the manufacture, storage and transportation of Persistent Organic Pollutants, and certain hazardous pesticides and industrial chemicals (as defined in the Rotterdam Convention).
Read the guideline (2 page pdf 41k).
Media enquiries to pressoffice@hsbc.com.
Downloads
2004 CSR Report
(36 page pdf 737K)
Forest land and forest products sector guideline
Freshwater infrastructure guideline
(2 page pdf 426K)
Chemicals industry sector guideline
(2 page pdf 41K)
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