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Review of the Equator Principles – Phase IV
1 March, 2019 EP News
01 March 2019
Progress continues towards the development of an updated Equator Principles ‘EP4’ text. We are now finalising Phase III ‘Agreement with the EP Association membership and initial drafting of the EP4 targeted update’ and transitioning into Phase IV ‘Second round of stakeholder consultation’.
This external stakeholder consultation phase will be somewhat delayed as compared to previously communicated timeframes whilst we complete internal consultation and approval processes, and undertake a legal review of the changes proposed. Norton Rose Fulbright have been contracted to complete a detailed review of the draft text to ensure that there are no legal issues with the draft text before it is released into the public domain.
It is anticipated that the consultation process will now begin in May once the draft text has been approved for public release by the Association members.
An independent third party, BSR, has now been engaged to conduct the external engagement and will facilitate a series of regional webinars and/or face to face sessions where stakeholders can provide specific feedback on the detail of the proposed changes. In addition, an online form on the Equator Principles website will again be made available for anyone wishing to provide feedback. The text will be made available on the website so that all interested parties can provide informed comment.
As has been previously outlined, this will be a targeted update primarily focusing on the following key areas: Social impact and human rights, Climate change, Designated Countries and Applicable Standards and Scope of applicability of the EPs. The EPA has previously noted that this targeted update will focus primarily on the areas outlined above and may not address all potential areas for change. Feedback beyond the scope of EP4 will be noted for consideration as part of subsequent updates.
Following the completion of the external consultation process, the Association will take stakeholders’ views and expectations into consideration to see where these could be incorporated into the EPs or other mechanisms, as appropriate. Following a final legal review and approval by the EPA, the final EP4 text is due to be released in mid-late 2019.
At any time, any interested stakeholder may submit feedback and sign up to be alerted when any EP review updates, including the draft text, are posted via: https://equator-principles.com/ep4/.