Having established the Increasing Leverage Working Group, parties and adhering banks chose to outsource the study on increasing leverage to a consultant. The study, which proved very valuable and formed the basis for the working group’s publication in August 2018, contained a number of ‘topic cards’ containing ideas for steps we could take together to try to increase our leverage. The following are two examples of the topic cards the working group then chose to explore:

• A training session organised in February 2019 by the Dutch Banking Association, LANDdialogue, the University of Utrecht and Oxfam Novib to develop land rights-related skills and knowledge amongst bank personnel, and especially risk teams within banks. The training led to a basic guidance document for banks, describing what land rights and FPIC (Free, Prior and Informed Consent) entail, and addressing dilemmas banks face in this field. Banks will use the guidance document for further internal training on land rights and FPIC, for example by integrating it where relevant into existing training modules for employees. 
• The NGOs, with support from FMO and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, organised a learning session on shrinking civic freedoms and the position of human rights defenders.

The working group decided to focus on how to apply the theoretical ideas for leverage in practice through joint action, and will share the lessons learnt from implementing the topics cards more widely in 2019.