79 organisations call on Equator Principles Association to develop a grievance mechanism
22 August 2019
We thank you for the opportunity to review and comment on the most recent draft of the Equator Principles (EP4). We notice with regret that the current review process has not taken on board the need to strengthen accountability for the Equator Principles initiative. We are therefore writing to you to urge the Equator Principles Association (EPA) to initiate a process to develop an accountability mechanism to which project-affected people and other legitimate stakeholders can raise instances of alleged non-compliance with the Principles by signatory banks with the Association...
The Equator Principles do not currently offer a grievance mechanism at either the level of member banks or the initiative itself. We suggest that the most straight-forward and effective way to fulfill this expectation of the UN Guiding Principles is through establishing a central and independent accountability mechanism at the EPA level...
We understand the challenges of establishing such an initiative-level accountability mechanism as part of the current review process. We are aware that the EPA has established a Remedy Working Group and has begun to explore this issue. We would encourage it to go further and launch a formal process to develop such a mechanism alongside the launch of EP4...