The Equator Principles Association recognizes that financial institutions and their clients have a responsibility to respect Human Rights.1 Equator Principles Financial Institutions (“EPFIs”) will fulfill this responsibility in line with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (“UNGPs”) by carrying out Human Rights due diligence on the projects EPFIs finance (EP4 Preamble). The UNGPs serve as the global authoritative framework for defining the corporate responsibility to respect Human Rights and for carrying out due diligence to prevent and address abuses. The UNGPs state that governments have the duty to protect Human Rights, including from harms committed by private-sector
actors, and companies have the responsibility to respect Human Rights, no matter where or how they operate and regardless of their size (UNGPs, Principles 11-15). The responsibility to respect is operationalized by companies carrying out Human Rights due diligence to assess their actual and potential adverse Human Rights impacts (UNGPs, Principles 17-18) to understand what their Human Rights risks are based on their severity and likelihood.