Organization:BankTrack

BankTrack

Founded	November 2003, Bakkum, Netherlands
Focus	Private banks, environment, climate change, human rights
Location	Vismarkt 15, Nijmegen, Netherlands
Area served	Worldwide
Method	Direct action, lobbying, research
Members	Network consists out of 38 member organizations
Key people	Johan Frijns, Coordinator
Employees	eight
Website	[1]

BankTrack is a non-governmental organization working in the field of private sector banks and sustainability. BankTrack uses direct action, lobbying, and research to achieve its goals. BankTrack focuses primarily on the work of private sector banks and their involvement in projects that are a risk to the environment, society or human rights.

BankTrack was established as a network in 2003, building upon initiatives that led to the release of the Collevecchio declaration. The Declaration was the first civil society statement on the role of financial sector and sustainability, and was signed by over 100 civil society organizations. In 2015 it ceased to be a network and became an independent organization.

BankTrack releases research reports focused on sustainability in the banking sector, used by many organizations, banks and analysts. Reports include Mind the Gap and Close the Gap, which benchmarked the sustainability policies of over 40 global banks, and Bankrolling Climate Change, which investigated finance for the coal industry, and ranked the top 20 "Climate Killer Banks".

Equator Principles

BankTrack has closely monitored the evolution of the Equator Principles, a voluntary set of standards for determining, assessing, and managing social and environmental risk in project finance, since their inception. BankTrack has been highly critical of the Principles for allowing projects such as the Belo Monte Dam to proceed with an "Equator Principles seal of approval", the absence of accountability mechanisms, and the lack of ambitious climate change commitments.

External links

• Official BankTrack Website