气候变化领域集成服务门户(CCPortal): Best-practice biodiversity safeguards for Belt and Road Initiative’s financiers

CCPortal

DOI	10.1038/s41893-020-0528-3
	Best-practice biodiversity safeguards for Belt and Road Initiative’s financiers
	Narain D.; Maron M.; Teo H.C.; Hussey K.; Lechner A.M.
发表日期	2020
ISSN	2398-9629
起始页码	650
结束页码	657
卷号	3 期号:8
英文摘要	With thousands of projects being built along eight transcontinental corridors, China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is driving the global infrastructure boom. BRI is likely to have a sizeable biodiversity footprint as its corridors overlap several priority areas for conservation and 150,000 km2 of critical habitat. Biodiversity safeguards for the initiative therefore warrant scrutiny. Biodiversity safeguards are policies or standards (adopted by regulators, project proponents or financiers) that specify biodiversity impact mitigation measures. Here we examine a key source of safeguards—lending requirements of BRI’s financiers. We compare them with International Finance Corporation’s Performance Standard 6, which is often regarded as international best practice and which requires projects affecting ‘critical habitat’ to achieve a ‘net gain’ of biodiversity through impact mitigation. We find that of the 65 financiers identified (35 Chinese and 30 international), just 17 require biodiversity impact mitigation and 12 require a ‘net gain’. Among those with biodiversity safeguards, 16 are international, and despite the Chinese financiers accounting for over 90% of BRI’s financing (by quantum of investment), only 1 of the 35 we identified has biodiversity safeguards. Because most BRI finance is not subject to biodiversity safeguards, we conclude that potential impacts of BRI linear infrastructure projects may remain unmitigated, despite approximately 369,000 km2 of critical and natural habitat occurring within the 25 km buffer zone of such projects. We therefore argue for urgent adherence to best-practice safeguards for all institutions financing the BRI. © 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.
语种	英语
scopus关键词	Ecosystems; International trade; Investments; Roads and streets; Best practices; Global infrastructure; Impact mitigation; International finance corporations; Linear infrastructure; Natural habitat; Performance standards; Potential impacts; Biodiversity
来源期刊	Nature Sustainability
文献类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://gcip.llas.ac.cn/handle/2XKMVOVA/163375
作者单位	School of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia; School of Environmental and Geographical Sciences, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Semenyih, Malaysia; Centre for Policy Futures, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Narain D.,Maron M.,Teo H.C.,等. Best-practice biodiversity safeguards for Belt and Road Initiative’s financiers[J],2020,3(8).
APA	Narain D.,Maron M.,Teo H.C.,Hussey K.,&Lechner A.M..(2020).Best-practice biodiversity safeguards for Belt and Road Initiative’s financiers.Nature Sustainability,3(8).
MLA	Narain D.,et al."Best-practice biodiversity safeguards for Belt and Road Initiative’s financiers".Nature Sustainability 3.8(2020).