The initiative for sustainable forests was run in collaboration with Ceres. It helped investors to understand how deforestation within cattle and soybean supply chains represents a material risk to investee companies.
Group objectives
The initiative is coordinating collaborative investor engagement with companies that have either a direct or indirect exposure to commodity-driven deforestation in Latin America, whilst also addressing other ESG issues related to soft commodity production, such as poor working conditions, land rights and impact on indigenous peoples.
It is made up of over 40 investors with approximately US$ 8 trillion in assets under management. These investors are engaging with over 40 companies across the supply chain of these commodities.
Why investors should care
While cattle and soybean production have made significant contributions to economic development and the livelihoods of farmers in many countries across Latin America, there is now a growing awareness of the environmental and social issues associated with producing these commodities.
Commercial agriculture accounts for approximately 70% of tropical deforestation in Latin America, with cattle and soybean production being the largest drivers of this land use change, and demand for each is growing. Deforestation represents a significant climate risk to investors, accounting for approximately 10-15% of anthropogenic GHG emissions. Despite this, there are far fewer corporate commitments around deforestation in cattle and soybean supply chains than for other soft commodities.
Investor expectation statements
Many members of this group signed two statements highlighting what they expected of investee companies in terms of their disclosure and management of deforestation risks within cattle and soybean supply chains.
View the PRI’s work on this issue
Members
| Lead investors | |
|---|---|
| ACTIAM Aberdeen Standard Investments APG Asset Management BNP Paribas Asset Management Boston Common Asset Management Church Commissioners of England EOS at Federated Hermes (formerly Hermes EOS) Green Century Capital Management) HSBC Global Asset Managemen tImpax Asset Management |
KLP Legal & General Investment Management NN Investment Partners Pictet Asset Management Rathbone Brothers Plc Robeco Storebrand Asset Management Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management |
| Support investors | |
| Achmea Investment Management Aegon Asset Management Affirmative Investment Management AMF Australian Ethical Investment Ltd. Aviva Investors Bankhaus Schelhammer & Schattera AG BTG Pactual Caja Ingenieros Gestión SGIIC, SAU California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) Cordiant Capital Core Capital Management, LLC DNB Domini Impact Investment |
Grupo Ecoagro Handelsbanken Asset Management Indep’AM Länsförsäkringar AB LGPS Central M&G Macquarie Investment Management Europe Mirova Nordea Ostrum Asset Management Resona Asset Management Sparinvest Group SulAmérica Investimentos DTVM S.A Zürcher Kantonalbank/Swisscan |
Engagement focus companies
Not disclosed.
