银行贷款和环境政策和机会[文献翻译].docVIP

原文Bank lending and the environment: policies and opportunities Paul Thompson Senior Lecturer in Accounting, Hudders?eld University Business School, Hudders?eld, UK In recent years there has been signi?cant growth in public concern for the state of our natural environment, prompted largely by the phenomena of apparently unusual and destructive weather patterns, declining air quality in urban areas, rising concentrations of greenhouse gases, and so forth. These alarming trends have been linked in part to industry’s unsustainable consumption of natural resources, and the attendant pollution. This realisation has changed the attitude of the general public which now regards business as having a role to play in, if not a responsibility for, safeguarding the environment (Shrivastava, 1993). Furthermore, the governments of many countries, especially developed ones, have begun to implement more detailed legislation to protect the environment. For instance, the UK has witnessed the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Environment Act 1995, which have sought to raise environmental standards and more tightly regulate business activity. The effect on businesses has been profound. During the 1980s, environmental issues challenged and changed the attitudes and practices of many natural resource-based companies, resulting in the incorporation of environmental considerations into every stage of a product’s life cycle. The ?nancial consequences of environmental problems and poor corporate environmental performance can be considerable and may threaten corporate viability. For example, Exxon is estimated to have spent US$3.5 billion cleaning up after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska. This ?nancial burden has been compounded by civil claims for damages in excess of US$15 billion. In the UK, the Atomic Energy Author ity estimated that clean-up costs for decommissioned nuclear power plants in the UK could exceed ￡8.2 billion (Vaughan, 1994). In the 19