Unclassified TD/ECG(2001)3
Organisation de Coopération et de
Développement Economiques
Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development 21-Mar-2001
____________________________________________________________________________________
TRADE DIRECTORATE
TRADE COMMITTEE
Working Party on Export
Credits and Credit Guarantees
ISSUES PAPER ON OFFICIALLY
SUPPORTED EXPORT CREDITS AND THE ENVIRONMENT
CONSULTATIONS BETWEEN
STAKEHOLDERS AND THE OECD WORKING PARTY ON EXPORT
CREDITS AND CREDIT GUARANTEES
This Issues Paper is for
the purposes of the consultation between stakeholders and the Members of the
Working Party on Export Credits and Credit Guarantees.
Contact: Mr. Jean Le Cocguic, Export
Credits Division, Trade Directorate, OECD
Tel. 33 (1) 45 24 17 41; Fax. 33 (1) 44
30 61 58; e-mail: jean.lecocguic@oecd.org
JT00104743
Document complet disponible
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Complete document available on OLIS in its original
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ISSUES PAPER ON
OFFICIALLY SUPPORTED EXPORT CREDITS AND THE
ENVIRONMENT
CONSULTATIONS
BETWEEN STAKEHOLDERS AND THE OECD WORKING
PARTY ON EXPORT
CREDITS AND CREDIT GUARANTEES
I. Introduction
1. The Members of the OECD
Working Party on Export Credits and Credit Guarantees (ECG) are in the course
of seeking to agree on Common Approaches to the Environment and Officially Supported
Export Credits. The ECG considers that it is important to consult with
stakeholders in this process and for this reason welcomes the opportunity to
discuss the issue with Buyers’ countries, NGOs and the OECD advisory bodies
BIAC and TUAC.
2. To facilitate the
consultative process with stakeholders, this paper provides background to the work
of the ECG on export credits and the environment, details the publicly
disseminated information 1 on the issue, and sets out the main elements under
consideration for an agreement on common approaches and on which the views of
stakeholders are invited.
3. The legal form of an
agreement on common approaches has yet to be decided. There are various possibilities
available to the ECG in order to achieve the aims of Members; one possible
framework is an OECD Council Recommendation. Recommendations are not legally
binding but practice accords them great moral force as representing the
political will of OECD Member countries and it is expected that Member
countries will do their utmost to implement fully a Recommendation.
II. Background
4. In order to fulfil their
political mandate 2 relating to officially supported export credits and the environment, the
Members of the ECG, publicly disseminated an Action Statement in February 2000
(see paragraph 5 below) and in April 2000, the so-called Work-Plan (Annex A).
The Action Statement and Work-Plan were preceded by the 1999 Agreement on
Environmental Information Exchange for Larger Projects (see Annex B) and the
1998 Statement of Intent on Officially Supported Export Credits and the Environment
(see Annex C).
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1 All the publicly disseminated information on Officially Supported Export
Credits and the Environment is available on the OECD/Export Credit Internet
site: http://www.oecd.org/ech/act/xcred/environnement-declaration-en.htm.
2 In the Communiqué from the OECD Council Meeting at Ministerial Level in
May 1999, and in the context of the progress being made in the ECG, Ministers:
"urged that the work continue with a view to strengthening common
approaches and to report on progress made at the next Ministerial Council Meeting."
(paragraph 18).
III. 2000 Action Statement
5. The Action Statement recorded the
ECG Members’ agreement to the following actions:
i) Continue to develop, within their
national systems of official export credit support, procedures and
methodologies for identifying and assessing the environmental impact of
projects.
ii) Continue to monitor and evaluate,
over time, their own experiences with these procedures and methodologies, as
well as their own experiences related to mitigating the environmental impact of
individual projects, and share these experiences with the other Members.
iii) Agree on further refinements to
the Environmental Information Exchange for Larger Projects.
iv) Based on ECAs’ experiences (e.g.
with Environmental Information Exchanges), explore ways to synthesise common
elements and best practices related to environmental review and impact assessment
in order to strengthen a framework of common approaches amongst export credit agencies.
v) Exchange views on an informal basis
with appropriate stakeholders.
vi) Agree on a Work-Plan, including
Special Sessions of the Working Party on Export Credits and Credit Guarantees
dedicated to the environment issue, in order to facilitate this work and the
fulfilment of the OECD Ministerial Mandate. The results of this work, which the
Working Party aims to complete before the end of 2001, without precluding
intermediary results by the 2001 OECD Ministerial Meeting, will be publicly
disseminated.
IV. 2000 Work-Plan
6. Following the February 2000 Action
Statement, the ECG agreed a detailed Work-Plan (Annex A) in April 2000 to
facilitate the fulfilment of the OECD Ministerial mandate to strengthen common approaches
on the environment and export credits. The Work-Plan is referred to in point
vi) of the Action Statement. The ECG Members are committed to pursuing the
Work-Plan without prejudice as to outcomes; it comprises a list of topics
(which is not exhaustive) to be addressed in further discussions on common approaches.
V. Main Elements of an
Agreement on Common Approaches
7. In considering common approaches,
the ECG recognises that its Members have different means of delivering
officially supported export credits (e.g. insurance, guarantees and direct
loans) through their export credit agencies, and that the primary role of the
ECAs is to promote trade, whereas Multilateral Development Banks and
development agencies focus primarily on development assistance. The ECG also recognises
the sovereign rights of buyers’ countries to make decisions regarding projects
within their jurisdiction, whilst recognising that it is the responsibility of
ECAs to consider the environmental impacts of projects in their decisions to
offer official support for export credits.
8. The ECG also has in mind the
desirability to promote policy coherence between export credits and
environmental protection, thereby contributing to sustainable development; to
develop common approaches on the environmental impact of projects in order to
level the playing field and to encourage the prevention of support for
environmentally-detrimental projects. In addition, the ECG Members seek to foster
transparency and predictability in decision-making, and, bearing in mind
business confidentiality, to enhance the financial risk assessment of projects
by taking into account their environmental aspects.
a) Coverage of an Agreement
9. The main issues with regard to
coverage are:
−Scope: officially supported export
credits for projects and goods and services directly related to projects,
normally sold on medium and long terms of payment
−Threshold: the concept of a de
minimis threshold is being considered.
−Sector considerations / Site/location of projects: sensitive sectors and sensitive geographic sites
b) Screening
10. Information for screening of
applications for officially supported export credits to identify projects which
may have adverse environmental impacts and whether an environmental review is
required could include:
−Parties to the project: e.g.
sponsors, financial institutions, exporters
−Project description: e.g.
size, sector
−Project location: e.g.
any proximity to environmentally sensitive sites
11. Projects are expected to be
classified in accordance with the extent of their potential environmental
impact, e.g.:
・ Projects which have the
most significant environmental impact :
this could include projects located in or near sensitive geographic sites and
in sensitive sectors, for which an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) would be
expected.
・ Projects which have a
lesser environmental impact, and for which an
environmental assessment of less extent than for the previous category would be
required.
・ Projects for which no
environmental assessment is needed (e.g.
projects under a certain threshold, projects not located in or near sensitive
sites or in sensitive sectors)
c) Environmental Review
Information
12. In circumstances where an
environment review is considered appropriate by the ECG Members, there would be
an expectation that parties to the project, such as exporters, financial
institutions and project sponsors, would be requested to provide information in
respect of the environmental impact of projects:
−Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA): an EIA would be expected to address the relevant issues referred to in the
guidelines of International Financial Institutions, or other relevant guidance.
−Reference points or benchmarks: good practice against which to reference/benchmark the environmental
impacts of projects could include standards developed by relevant international
institutions, relevant regional development banks, host government standards
and national standards set by OECD Members. With a view to achieving
consistency in the benchmarking process, projects should as a minimum comply
with the regulations and standards of the host country.
d) Evaluation and Decision,
Exchange of Information, Reporting and Monitoring:
13. ECG Members will take the decision
as to whether to provide official support based on all the relevant information
provided by parties to the projects -- appropriate stakeholders -- taking into
account the competitive context in which they operate and the constraints of
commercial confidentiality.
14. Any agreement concluded on common
approaches would be monitored and reviewed over time in the light of
experience.
ANNEX A
WORK-PLAN (2000)
(1) Members agree to
continue to develop, within their national systems of official export credit support,
procedures and methodologies for identifying and assessing the environmental
impact of projects.
Timeframe: Aim for completion by November 2000
Coverage
・ Scope of considerations
(e.g. environmental, developmental and social impact of projects)
・ Thresholds
・ Sector considerations
・ Site/location of projects
・ Modifications to existing
projects / "add-on" projects
・ Exemptions from Coverage
Procedures and Practices
・ Elements for
screening/quantitative and qualitative factors
・ Extent of screening (e.g.
varying according to sector/size of project)
・ Leverage of ECAs (e.g.
treatment of sub-contracts)
・ Benchmarking (e.g. IFI
guidelines, host country standards)
・ Timing of introduction of
procedures and methodologies within national systems
・ Cost/benefit analyses
Environmental Review
Practices
・ Environmental guidelines
and criteria (e.g. quantitative and qualitative limits and criteria)
Information Gathering on
Individual Projects
・ Scope and depth of
information (e.g. requirement for an Environmental Impact Assessment)
・ Sources (e.g. NGOs, ECAs,
project sponsors, affected parties, recipient governments)
・ Exchange of views on
consultations at the national level
Resource Implications for
ECAs
・ Costs involved
・ "In-house"
expertise; involvement of other Ministries (e.g. Environment); need for
external
consultants
・
Allocation/responsibility for costs (e.g. on ECA, project sponsor etc.)
(2) Members agree to
continue to monitor and evaluate, over time, their own experiences with these procedures
and methodologies, as well as their own experiences related to mitigating the environmental
impact of individual projects, and share these experiences with the other Members.
Timeframe: Aim for completion by November 2000
Monitoring
・ Elements for monitoring
・ Methodology for monitoring
・ Sharing of information
Evaluation of Information
・ Appropriate elements for
inclusion in evaluation of environmental effects
・ Methodology for evaluation
Mitigation Measures
・ Methodology for measuring
mitigation
・ Consideration of influence
of ECA (e.g. if only supporting small sub-contract)
・ "Conditionality"
or otherwise of proposed measures (e.g. will official support be dependent on
the mitigating steps being followed?); Covenants
・ Environmental management
systems
Information Exchange
・ Methodology for sharing of
evaluations
・ Appropriate recipients of
information
・ Enhancing the Environmental
Information Exchange for Larger Projects
・
Constraints (e.g. confidentiality concerns)
(3) Members agree based on
ECAs’ experiences (e.g. with Environmental Information Exchanges), to explore
ways to synthesise common elements and best practices related to environmental review
and impact assessment in order to strengthen a framework of common approaches amongst
export credit agencies.
Timeframe: Aim for completion by November 2001, but allowing for progress report to
OECD Ministers in second quarter 2001)
Common Elements and Best
Practices
・ Collecting and mapping of
information relating to i) and ii) above (e.g. on new and established environmental
screening systems)
・ Synthesis of information on
common elements and best practices
Framework of Common
Approaches
・ Methodology for developing a
framework
・ Factors for consideration
(e.g. mitigation of environmental risks, avoidance of distortions of competition,
etc.)
・ Modalities of disseminating
the Framework
(4) Members agree to
exchange views on an informal basis with appropriate stakeholders.
Timeframe: Ongoing
Consultations (e.g. with
NGOs, recipient countries, BIAC, TUAC, etc.)
・ Appropriate third parties
・ Sovereign rights of
recipient governments
・
Public dissemination issues
ANNEX B
AGREEMENT ON ENVIRONMENTAL
INFORMATION EXCHANGE
FOR LARGER PROJECTS (1999)
1. Drawing on experience to date,
Members of the OECD Working Party on Export Credits and Credit Guarantees (ECG)
agree to refine the case-by-case voluntary environmental information exchange
by undertaking the following:
・ Export Credit Agencies
(ECAs) involved in a project would ensure that all information, including any
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the project, would form the basis of
the voluntary environmental information exchanges.
・ All participating ECAs
would receive a copy of the EIA prepared for the buyer/owner or on behalf of
the owner.
・ Each ECA would then review
the EIA and formulate views on environmental issues or concerns raised by the
project.
・ Taking account of
confidentiality concerns, ECAs involved in any environmentally sensitive project
may share information, exchange views and co-ordinate their responses to
exporters, lenders, borrowers and other principle parties to the project.
・ ECAs may share views on the
adequacy of information available in relation to environmental and other
project risks.
・ The OECD Secretariat would
be informed of these exchanges, and would be able to report periodically on the
experience during the information exchange period.
2. The exchanges would apply to larger
multi-sourced projects, which are included in environmentally sensitive sectors
(e.g., mining, power, etc.). In the event that an EIA is not available, and if
the ECAs decide that an EIA is essential to the environmental evaluation of the
project, the ECAs would require the project sponsors to bear the cost of an EIA
along with any other independent reports necessary for risk assessment
purposes.
ANNEX C
STATEMENT OF INTENT ON
OFFICIALLY SUPPORTED EXPORT CREDITS AND THE ENVIRONMENT (1998)
Continuing the efforts in the OECD
Group on Export Credits and Credit Guarantees to establish approaches for
taking environmental factors into account when providing official export credit
support, the Members:
1. Desire to conserve and enhance the
environment, and to encourage consideration of the environmental impact of
projects in buyers’ countries.
2. Welcome the role that OECD exports
can play in diffusing environmentally beneficial technology and know-how to
buyers’ countries.
3. Respect the sovereign right of
buyers’ countries to make decisions regarding the impact and benefits of
projects within their jurisdiction, and to enforce environmental regulations
and standards.
4. Recognise the benefits of working in
partnership with exporters, financial institutions and buyers’ countries.
5. Acknowledge the need for OECD
exporters not to be placed in an adverse position vis-à-vis their
competitors including non-OECD competitors.
6. Recognise the requirements for
commercial confidentiality.
While these principles are an important
step, the Group recognises the desirability of strengthening environmental
considerations in risk assessment practices of export credit agencies,
acknowledging the differences in national systems of official export credit
support. In this regard, Members express their willingness to share information
on the application of these practices and principles to relevant projects.
「輸出信用と環境」に関する最近の重要コミュニケ（抜粋）
１）99年5月OECD閣僚理事会コミュニケ
COMMUNIQUE, OECD COUNCIL MEETING AT MINISTERIAL LEVEL (Paris, 26-27 May 1999)
18. ...They welcomed the progress towards the OECD Agreement on Environmental Information Exchange for Larger Projects in relation to officially supported export credits and urged that the work continue with a view to strengthening common approaches and to report on progress made at the next Ministerial Council Meeting.
＜＜仮訳＞＞
18．（中略）閣僚は、公的支持を受ける輸出信用との関連で「大規模プロジェクトについての環境情報交換に関するOECD合意」に向けての進展を歓迎し、また、共通のアプローチを強化するために作業を継続し、次回閣僚理事会会合において進捗状況を報告するよう求めた。
２）99年6月G8ケルン・サミット・コミュニケ
G8 Communiqué Koln 1999 (June20, 1999)
32. ...We will work within the OECD towards common environmental guidelines for export finance agencies. We aim to complete this work by the 2001 G8 Summit.
＜＜仮訳＞＞
32．（中略）我々は、OECDの枠組みの中で、輸出金融機関のための共通の環境上の指針の作成に向けて作業を行う。我々は、この作業を200１年のG8サミットまでに完了することを目指す。
3）2000年6月OECD閣僚理事会コミュニケ（パラ21）
COMMUNIQUE, OECD COUNCIL MEETING AT MINISTERIAL LEVEL (Paris, 26-27 June 2000)
21. …Good progress has been made in OECD’s Export Credit Group on strengthening common approaches on environment and export credits, and Ministers urged the completion of the Working Plan by the end of 2001, and requested a report on progress at their next meeting. …..
＜＜仮訳＞＞
21．（中略）OECD輸出信用グループでは、環境と輸出信用に関する共通のアプローチの強化において順調な進捗がみられた。閣僚は、その作業計画を2001年末までに完了することを強く要請し、次回閣僚理事会への進捗状況の報告を求めた。
4）G8コミュニケ・沖縄2000（2000年7月23日）
68. Export credit policies may have very significant environmental impacts. We welcome the adoption of the OECD work plan to be completed by 2001. We reaffirm our commitment to develop common environmental guidelines, drawing on relevant MDB experience, for export credit agencies by the 2001 G8 Summit. We will co-operate to reinvigorate and intensify our work to fulfill the Cologne mandate.
＜＜仮訳＞＞
68．輸出信用政策は、環境面において極めて大きな影響を及ぼしうる。我々は、2001年までの完了が予定されるOECDの作業計画が採択されたことを歓迎する。我々は、関連する国際開発金融機関（MDB）の経験に基づいて、輸出信用機関のための共通の環境上の指針を2001年のG8サミットまでに作成するとのコミットメントを再確認する。我々は、ケルンのマンデートを履行するために、我々の作業を再活性化し強化するために協力する。