Two New Shipping Lenders Sign Up Poseidon Principles

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The world’s largest lender to global shipping, BNP Paribas, and leading wealth manager, Credit Suisse, become the 15th and 16th financial institutions to sign on to the Poseidon Principles, reports Safety4sea.

New additions to Poseidon Principles

Speaking at the Global Maritime Forum’s Annual Summit 2019, Michael Parker Chairman, Global Shipping, Logistics & Offshore Citi highlighted that they expect an 80-90% of all shipping banks to become Signatories to the Poseidon Principles in the following year.

Consequently, the two members are the newest additions to the Poseidon Principles, representing the global goals on dealing with climate change and protecting the environment.

Commitment to climate change

Vincent Pascal, Head of Shipping & Offshore Finance EMEA at BNP Paribas, commented that, “As a leading and longstanding lender to the global maritime industry, we welcome the establishment of the Poseidon Principles, an industry-wide and self-volunteered initiative that reflects our own commitment to combat climate change and protect the oceans.”

It should be reminded that the Poseidon Principles are the world’s first sector-specific, self-governing climate alignment agreement amongst financial institutions.

Climate goals by IMO

The Principles set a specific framework to quantitatively assess and disclose whether financial institutions’ lending portfolios are in line with climate goals set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for regulating shipping.

The Poseidon Principles aim to support the shipping industry and ship owners to achieve the reduction target and also assist financial institutions to manage crucial investment risks which will benefit business and society.

In addition, Mario Béhé, Global Head of Ship Finance at Credit Suisse, noted that, “Along with our co-signatories, we aim to align our ship finance portfolio to be environmentally responsible and to lead by example in the reduction of GHG emissions.”

Joining the Principles shows our clear and continued commitment to sustainable shipping – being there to support our clients in their business and in their transition to a low-carbon shipping industry,” he added.

Shipping collaboration

The Poseidon Principles were launched by Citi, DNB, and Société Générale, collaborating with key shipping players, as A.P. Møller Mærsk, Cargill, Euronav, Lloyd’s Register, and Watson Farley & Williams – with support provided by the Global Maritime Forum, Rocky Mountain Institute, and University College London Energy Institute, and were established in June 2019.

Concluding, they were presented at the French Ministry for the Ecological and Solidary Transition on July 23, 2019.

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Source: Safety4sea