Officially launched in June 2019, signatories to the Poseidon Principles – shipping’s green banking initiative – now cover more than 50% of the global ship finance portfolio with news of the latest German firm to come onboard.
DekaBank, the securities services provider of Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe, has joined the framework for responsible ship finance, the 28th financial institute to do so with the grouping now estimating it forms a majority of lenders, even without a single Chinese signatory to date.
The Poseidon Principles are aligned with the IMO’s ambition for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from international shipping to peak as soon as possible and to reduce total annual GHG emissions by at least 50% by 2050 compared to 2008. Signatories commit to publicly reporting the alignment of their shipping portfolios with the IMO target on an annual basis.
DekaBank had already implemented its own score cards for ship financing within the framework of which CO2 emissions can be recorded systematically.
The grouping now estimates it forms a majority of lenders, even without a single Chinese signatory to date
“The Poseidon Principles are now an additional key element to further integrate climate change into our lending decisions and to monitor the decarbonization targets of our shipping portfolio,” said Dr Marco Albers, head of specialised lending at DekaBank.
This month also saw the Poseidon Principles for Marine Insurance enter in force, a grouping that currently boasts nine signatories.
By Sam Chambers
