Environmental protection

The end date for officially supported export credits to fossil fuel energy sector projects is set at 1 January 2038. After that date, the above ban will not apply to projects:

• with a legitimate economic interest of Poland,
• which may increase Poland's energy security.

The OECD Council Recommendation

Following the adoption by the OECD Council on 28 June 2012 of the Recommendation of the Council on Common Approaches for Officially Supported Export Credits and Environmental and Social Due Diligence KUKE established a procedural framework that allows addressing the potential impact of investment projects financed with a credit with a repayment term of 2 years and more supported with the State Treasury backing upon the natural and social environment. A responsible approach to the environment while carrying out export undertakings is an important element of KUKE’s co-operation with Polish exporters, institutions financing Polish exports, as well as ministries and public institutions.

Recognizing that it is the responsibility of the project sponsor/investor to shape the project’s financing structure, we exercise due diligence in order to identify in the course of the risk assessment process these transactions which may potentially have a significant impact upon the environment, and to ensure that the decision on supporting the project is taken in the context of:

• environmental and social sustainability,
• respect of employee and community rights,
• observance of appropriate standards and good practices.

Our commitments

We commit to:

• screen all transactions covered by KUKE with the State Treasury backing in the form of insurance of receivables with a repayment term of two and more years,
• identify, in co-operation with the applicants, the impact of the transactions upon the natural and social environment, and consequently to classify the export transaction into one of three categories (A, B, C) depending on its impact upon the environment,
• have selected transactions reviewed in order to determine their impact upon the environment by an expert employed at KUKE, the review includes, among others, benchmarking of the project against international standards, and, if necessary, the consideration of appropriate and effective measures to prevent, minimize, mitigate or remedy the adverse effects for the environment and society,
• disclose publicly at Internet site information on the projects accepted for insurance cover and classified as belonging to category A or B, including type of information reviewed and international standards applied in the review.

Environmental procedures

The environmental procedural framework applied by KUKE is consistent with the OECD Recommendation with due regard to the matters of character and scope of the export projects involved. Participation of KUKE in the OECD Environmental Practitioners working group meeting regularly ensures that information and experiences can be exchanged with other members of the Group. The results of application of due diligence are subject to reporting and monitoring by OECD members, which ensures a harmonized approach to individual projects. Both the policy and information on the environmental procedure is reviewed and updated, if necessary.

Together with an application for insurance cover of export credit with a repayment term of two years and more, the exporter completes the environmental questionnaire. Depending on the information on the value of the contract, type of undertaking, its location, project duration, sector and potential impact upon the natural and social environment, projects are allocated to one of three categories, i.e.:

• Category A: a project is classified as Category A if it has the potential to have significant adverse environmental and/or social impacts, in particular, projects in sensitive sectors or located in or near sensitive areas,
• Category B: a project is classified as Category B if its potential environmental and/or social impacts are less adverse than those of Category A projects,
• Category C: a project is classified as Category C if it has minimal or no potentially adverse environmental and/or social impact.

The category of the project determines the obligations connected with the further stages of the environmental and social procedure. More detailed principles of selection, classification and evaluation of the projects are described in the guide “KUKE’s Environmental procedure applied to insuring export contracts and export credits with a repayment term of two years and more”.

The OECD and UN guidelines

At the same time, bearing in mind the actions taken by the international community on behalf of environment and human rights protection, we encourage our partners and applicants to reflect in their investment strategies the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the UN Guidelines on business and human rights. More information on this is available at:

• www.gov.pl/web/fundusze-regiony/krajowy-punkt-kontaktowy-oecd
• www.gov.pl/web/fundusze-regiony/biznes-i-prawa-czlowieka
• www.gov.pl/web/fundusze-regiony/spoleczna-odpowiedzialnosc-przedsiebiorstw-csr2

(Polish language version)

Transparency

In keeping with the principle of access to information and transparency of the environmental procedures, we disclose on our website information on supported by KUKE export undertakings assigned to category A and B, and of the environmental impact of currently considered projects classified to category A.

Additional information on environmental and social policy, procedural framework, as well as notified above projects is available on request by sending enquiry to the following e-mail address: kontakt@kuke.com.pl.