Financing Pulp Mills: An Appraisal of Risk Assessment and Safeguard Procedures

Financing Pulp Mills: An Appraisal of Risk Assessment and Safeguard Procedures PDF

Author: Machteld Spek

Publisher: CIFOR

Published: 2005-01-01

Total Pages: 104

ISBN-13: 9792446125

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This study analyses the risk assessment and socio-environmental safeguard procedures associated with the financing of pulp mill projects. The type and cost of the fibre source is clearly key to the economic competitiveness of any pulp mill. Nevertheless, investment institutions often carry out only limited assessment of the fibre source of the proposed mill. Although a growing number of financial institutions have adopted policies to employ social and environmental safeguard screening for investments in developing countries and transitioning economies, the scope of such screenings is in fact quite limited and they are often implemented ineffectively. [Provided by publisher]

Global Project Finance, Human Rights and Sustainable Development

Global Project Finance, Human Rights and Sustainable Development PDF

Author: Sheldon Leader

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2011-08-18

Total Pages: 535

ISBN-13: 1139504258

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Many infrastructure projects around the world are funded through the project finance method, which combines private financing with public sector backing from multilateral finance institutions such as the World Bank. This examination of the theoretical and practical implications of such funding begins with a discussion of the relationship between the financial structuring of these projects and finance, policy and legal disciplines, especially in the form of investment law, human rights and environmental law. A number of case studies are then examined to provide practical insights into the application (or otherwise) of human rights and sustainable development objectives within such projects. While these theoretical perspectives do not conclude that the project finance method detracts from the application or implementation of human rights and sustainable development objectives, they do highlight the potential for the prioritisation of investment returns at the expense of human rights and environmental protection standards.

Fiduciary Law and Responsible Investing

Fiduciary Law and Responsible Investing PDF

Author: Benjamin J. Richardson

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-08-21

Total Pages: 347

ISBN-13: 1135941068

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This book is about fiduciary law’s influence on the financial economy’s environmental performance, focusing on how the law affects responsible investing and considering possible legal reforms to shift financial markets closer towards sustainability. Fiduciary law governs how trustees, fund managers or other custodians administer the investment portfolios owned by beneficiaries. Written for a diverse audience, not just legal scholars, the book examines in a multi-jurisdictional context an array of philosophical, institutional and economic issues that have shaped the movement for responsible investing and its legal framework. Fiduciary law has acquired greater influence in the financial economy in tandem with the extraordinary recent growth of institutional funds such as pension plans and insurance company portfolios. While the fiduciary prejudice against responsible investing has somewhat waned in recent years, owing mainly to reinterpretations of fiduciary and trust law, significant barriers remain. This book advances the notion of ‘nature’s trust’ to metaphorically signal how fiduciary responsibility should accommodate society’s dependence on long-term environmental well-being. Financial institutions, managing vast investment portfolios on behalf of millions of beneficiaries, should manage those investments with regard to the broader social interest in sustaining ecological health. Even for their own financial self-interest, investors over the long-term should benefit from maintaining nature’s capital. We should expect everyone to act in nature’s trust, from individual funds to market regulators. The ancient public trust doctrine could be refashioned for stimulating this change, and sovereign wealth funds should take the lead in pioneering best practices for environmentally responsible investing.

Yearbook of International Environmental Law

Yearbook of International Environmental Law PDF

Author: Ole Kristian Fauchald

Publisher: Yearbook International Environ

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 904

ISBN-13: 0199539642

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This yearbook contains articles from an international team of contributors. Each section of essays covers a topical subject, focusing mainly on environmental law, and the year-in-review section offers a round-up of world-wide legal developments.

Socially Responsible Investment Law

Socially Responsible Investment Law PDF

Author: Benjamin J Richardson

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2008-06-30

Total Pages: 624

ISBN-13: 0199715459

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Environmental harm is commonly associated with companies that extract, consume, and pollute our shared natural resources. Rarely are the 'unseen polluters,' the financiers that sponsor and profit from eco-damaging corporations, placed at the forefront of the environmental debate. By focusing on these unseen polluters, Benjamin Richardson provides a comprehensive examination of socially responsible investment (SRI), and offers a guide to possible reform. Richardson proposes that greater regulatory supervision of SRI will help ensure that the financial sector prioritizes ethically-based investments. In Socially Responsible Investment Law, he suggests that new governmental reforms should encourage companies to participate in socially responsible investments by providing a better mix of standards and incentives for SRI through measures that include redefining the fiduciary responsibilities of institutional investors to incorporate environmental concerns. By doing so, Richardson posits that corporate financiers, including banks, hedge funds, and pension plans, will become more accountable to the goals of ensuring sustainable development.

The Rise and Fall of Gunns Ltd

The Rise and Fall of Gunns Ltd PDF

Author: Quentin Beresford

Publisher: NewSouth

Published: 2015-02-01

Total Pages: 422

ISBN-13: 174224193X

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At its peak, Gunns Ltd had a market value of $1 billion, was listed on the ASX 200, was the largest employer in the state of Tasmania and its largest private landowner. Most of its profits came from woodchipping, mainly from clear-felled old-growth forests. A pulp mill was central to its expansion plans. Its collapse in 2012 was a major national news story, as was the arrest of its CEO for insider trading. Quentin Beresford illuminates for the first time the dark corners of the Gunns empire. He shows it was built on close relationships with state and federal governments, political donations and use of the law to intimidate and silence its critics. Gunns may have been single-minded in its pursuit of a pulp mill in Tasmania’s Tamar Valley, but it was embedded in an anti-democratic and corrupt system of power supported by both main parties, business and unions. Simmering opposition to Gunns and all it stood for ramped up into an environmental campaign not seen since the Franklin Dam protests. Fearless and forensic in its analysis, the book shows that Tasmania’s decades-long quest to industrialise nature fails every time. But the collapse of Gunns is the most telling of them all. ‘This is a tale that needed telling. It is an important case history in environmental campaigning and a must-read for anyone interested in fairness and transparency in government.’ – Geoffrey Cousins AM, businessman and president of the Australian Conservation Foundation

Paper Trails

Paper Trails PDF

Author: Mandy Haggith

Publisher: Random House

Published: 2008-09-04

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 0753516314

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From the medical sheets in maternity wards to our death certificates, paper charts the course of our lives. Paradoxically, it spreads ideas and learning as well as thousands of tons of junk mail, yet our dependence on this material is damaging our planet and creating mountains of unnecessary waste. Mandy Haggith explores our society's obsession with paper, from its invention in China 2000 years ago to the millions of tonnes we now use every year. Following the paper trail around the world, Mandy discovers the human stories of those affected by the industry, from a Russian ecologist, a Finnish logger and Indonesian tribal leaders, to a Canadian publisher and a Vietnamese paper technologist. In the process, she uncovers the paper industry's dirtiest secrets and sets out simple, practical steps we can take to minimise our own personal use of 20 tonnes of paper over our lifetime.

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