Land pollution, environmental risks and bank lending: an empirical analysis

With empirical data collected from semi-structured interviews with ‘elite’ professionals working in the environmental risk management teams of clearing and investment banks, this paper shows that a paradigm shift has occurred in the UK bank lending community’s overall perception of the environment-related risks. This article does two things. It (1) outlines the primary legal framework that heightened the threat of the environmental risks for UK banks in the 1990s and 2000s; and (2) documents the banks’ previous and current perceptions of the environmental risks, therefore showing the paradigm change. By deploying unique interview data, the article updates the knowledge and understanding of environmental risks and bank lending.