Equator Principles

As of March 2021, 116 financial institutions in 37 countries have officially adopted the Equator Principles, covering the majority of international project finance debt in emerging and developed markets.

[1] The Equator Principles, formally launched in Washington, D.C., on June 4, 2003, were based on existing environmental and social policy frameworks established by the International Finance Corporation.

While the Equator Principles are not intended to be applied retroactively, EPFIs apply them to the expansion or upgrade of an existing project where changes in scale or scope may create significant environmental and social risks and impacts or significantly change the nature or degree of an existing impact.

This criticism argues the case of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which, in 2004, was financed by eight Equator Principles' banks and the IFC despite an NGO assessment that found 127 alleged breaches.

Other criticisms include alleged lack of enforcement and accountability, free-riders, and that the scope of the principles is limited to project finance only.

[citation needed] Several banks have sought to address these concerns by publishing summaries of their Equator Principles screening, including the number of projects they turned down for noncompliance.