Legal Aspects of Green Shipping Finance:
Insights from the European Investment
Bank’s Schemes
Jason Chuah
Abstract This chapter maps the scope of the green principles which underpin the EU
Green Shipping Finance facility and links them to wider issues of legal and contractual
competencies. It is premised on the proposition that the concept of green shipping
finance should be construed widely because the impact of greening extends far beyond
mere ship design and build but to the longer global supply chain. The challenge is that a
finance facility, however green, will always have contractual constrictions, policy
constraints and finance prudential limits. The wider theoretical framework thus entails
a questioning of the concept of “green finance” itself. Broadly speaking, should not all
financing be “green”? This paper makes two contributions. The first is to link the
concept of “green” to the legal competencies of the EIB using the green shipping
finance facility example. That stresses the importance of integrating green principles in
the legal infrastructure of the finance provider. Secondly, the research problem is, in the
main, how could a traditionally conservative and contractually closed ended finance
facility accommodate, more flexibly, the risks of green shipping for finance providers,
whether public or private. The paper evaluates how these arrangements might be better
structured and assesses the model commonly used to promote green shipping finance,
the so-called blending of public-private financing. This research is therefore intended to
be relevant for green shipping financing initiatives beyond European shores.
1 Introduction and Context
In early Spring 2018 the European Investment Bank (EIB) signed an important
agreement with ING, a Dutch commercial bank, to provide support for a range of
green investments for the European shipping market.
1 The EIB and ING will each
J. Chuah (*)
City, University of London, London, UK
e-mail: Jason.Chuah.1@city.ac.uk
1 http://www.eib.org/en/infocentre/press/releases/all/2018/2018-036-ing-and-eib-provide-eur300m-to-finance-green-shipping.htm.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
P. K. Mukherjee et al. (eds.), Maritime Law in Motion, WMU Studies in Maritime
Affairs 8, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31749-2_8
131
Insights from the European Investment
Bank’s Schemes
Jason Chuah
Abstract This chapter maps the scope of the green principles which underpin the EU
Green Shipping Finance facility and links them to wider issues of legal and contractual
competencies. It is premised on the proposition that the concept of green shipping
finance should be construed widely because the impact of greening extends far beyond
mere ship design and build but to the longer global supply chain. The challenge is that a
finance facility, however green, will always have contractual constrictions, policy
constraints and finance prudential limits. The wider theoretical framework thus entails
a questioning of the concept of “green finance” itself. Broadly speaking, should not all
financing be “green”? This paper makes two contributions. The first is to link the
concept of “green” to the legal competencies of the EIB using the green shipping
finance facility example. That stresses the importance of integrating green principles in
the legal infrastructure of the finance provider. Secondly, the research problem is, in the
main, how could a traditionally conservative and contractually closed ended finance
facility accommodate, more flexibly, the risks of green shipping for finance providers,
whether public or private. The paper evaluates how these arrangements might be better
structured and assesses the model commonly used to promote green shipping finance,
the so-called blending of public-private financing. This research is therefore intended to
be relevant for green shipping financing initiatives beyond European shores.
1 Introduction and Context
In early Spring 2018 the European Investment Bank (EIB) signed an important
agreement with ING, a Dutch commercial bank, to provide support for a range of
green investments for the European shipping market.
1 The EIB and ING will each
J. Chuah (*)
City, University of London, London, UK
e-mail: Jason.Chuah.1@city.ac.uk
1 http://www.eib.org/en/infocentre/press/releases/all/2018/2018-036-ing-and-eib-provide-eur300m-to-finance-green-shipping.htm.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
P. K. Mukherjee et al. (eds.), Maritime Law in Motion, WMU Studies in Maritime
Affairs 8, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31749-2_8
131