Bank of China (BOC)

In terms of senior leadership accountability, Bank of China assigns responsibility for sustainability to the board of directors.

Bank of China discloses the aggregate share of finance it devotes to climate solutions while specifying what these solutions are. The financial institution discloses that its climate solutions are defined according to the Green Bond Principles, the Sustainability Bond Guidelines, the ICMA principles and the EU Green Taxonomy.

Bank of China discloses the proportion of its total direct operations workforce for each employee category by age group and gender. It alsodiscloses the amount of finance it directs towards small and micro enterprises.

In terms of its approach to senior leadership accountability, there is no evidence that Bank of China links the remuneration of its executive or management teams to sustainability performance criteria. No evidence was found that the financial institution is committed to gender equality and women’s empowerment. It has an opportunity to disclose the proportion of women in senior leadership roles as well as how it addresses any gender pay gaps. Bank of China also has an opportunity to describe its engagement approach on sustainability themes and impact topics with clients and investees.

While Bank of China discloses its alignment with China’s carbon neutrality goal, it does not disclose a target to reach net- zero financed emissions by 2050. The financial institution also has an opportunity to disclose the key sectors and companies it has identified as priorities to engage with on climate change, specifically on the alignment with the Paris Agreement. Furthermore, there is no evidence that the financial institution discloses time-bound targets explicitly for its climate solutions and that it is committed to minimising its negative impacts or financing regenerative solutions.

There is no evidence that Bank of China has a publicly available policy statement committing it to respect human rights laid out in the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the ILO declaration on fundamental rights at work. The financial institution has an opportunity to describe a comprehensive process for identifying its human rights risks and impacts across all its activities, especially its financing activities. Additionally, there is no evidence that the financial institution discloses the amount of finance directed towards women-owned businesses or to another usually excluded groups and low-income developing countries.