On July 28, 2020 The Guardian reported that “(t)he investment arm of northern Europe’s largest financial services group has dropped JBS, the world’s biggest meat producer, from its portfolio. The Brazilian company is now excluded from assets sold by Nordea Asset Management, which controls a €230bn (£210bn) fund, according to Eric Pedersen, its head of responsible investments.
The decision was taken about a month ago, over the meat giant’s links to farms involved in Amazon deforestation, its response to the Covid-19 outbreak, past corruption scandals, and frustrations over engagement with the company on such issues. ‘The exclusion of JBS is quite dramatic for us because it is from all of our funds, not just the ones labelled ESG,’ Pedersen said.
ESG stands for the “environmental, social and governance” standards used to evaluate a company’s sustainability and societal impact for investors. A third of Nordea Asset Management’s investments are classified as ESG, Pedersen said. Nordea was one of 29 international financial institutions managing $3.7tn (£2.9tn) worth of funds that warned the Brazilian government last month over rising deforestation. Last year, Nordea suspended the purchase of Brazilian government bonds after the Amazon fires crisis.”
You may read the article on The Guardian internet site.