Environmental, Social and Human Rights policy
As part of our support to UK exporters and in line with our international commitments, we identify and, where appropriate, conduct due diligence to assess the Environmental, Social and Human Rights (ESHR) risks and impacts of projects we are asked to support overseas.
The Policy and Practice on ESHR Due Diligence and Monitoring statement informs exporters, banks, project sponsors and other interested parties on our arrangements for:
- identifying ESHR risks and impacts and carrying out due diligence to be satisfied that, as far as practically possible, we support projects which should be constructed and operated in line with relevant standards
- monitoring alignment of projects with relevant ESHR standards over the life of UKEF support
Our note on Human Rights and Social Risks and Impacts describes UKEF’s approach to identifying and managing social and human rights risks and impacts of projects we are asked to support overseas.
The ESHR flowchart shows the processes we follow when considering environmental, health, safety, social and human rights impacts.
The Export Guarantee Advisory Committee advises the Secretary of State for International Trade on our operations, including ESHR risks.
The Equator Principles
We adopted the Equator Principles in 2016. This is a global framework for ESHR decision-making in financing projects. Find out more about our commitment.
- 26 June 2017: UK Export Finance joins Equator Principles steering committee
- 4 November 2016: UKEF’s implementation of the Equator Principles
- 31 March 2016: UKEF adopts Equator Principles
Our announcements
UKEF supports UK companies export all over the world. Our latest projects include:
- Bee’ah’s headquarters, designed by the late Dame Zaha Hadid and built by Carillion, which will be the first building of its kind in the city of Sharjah to be powered entirely by renewable and recoverable energy sources, whilst using recycled materials in its construction
Category A projects
Category A projects are those with the potential to have significant adverse environmental and/or social impacts.
We update our list of Category A projects, whenever we consider or support a Category A project.
ESHR risk and impact categorisations
We publish data on new and existing ESHR risk and impact categorisations and contingent liabilities as part of our Annual Report and Accounts:
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