BankTrack, et al. vs. ING Bank

BankTrack, Greenpeace Nederland, Milieudefensie, Friends of the Earth collectively filed a complaint against ING for failure to commit appropriately to achieving targets under the 2015 Paris Agreement. The complaint alleged that ING had violated environment and consumer interest provisions of the OECD Guidelines by failing to set targets to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases from its financial products. Further, ING had not reported the indirect product emissions of companies and processes that it financed, amounting to a disclosure breach under the guidelines, according to the complaint. In its initial assessment, the Dutch NCP accepted the case for further examination, noting the complexity with respect to calculation of CO2 emissions. It opined that this deliberation could purposely enhance the effectiveness of the guidelines. The final statement by the NCP held that ING is obliged under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises to set climate goals that are aligned with the Paris Agreement. Pursuant to the willingness of both parties to participate in mediation, agreement was reached with respect to ING’s adoption of the Terra approach, and the PACTA and PCAF methodologies to measure and set targets with respect to the bank’s climate impact. Further, a collaboration was established between ING, Banktrack, Greenpeace, Milieudefensie, and Oxfam Novib to urge the Dutch Government to request the IAEA to develop response models to limit global warming.