More than 200 investment firms, including CCLA, Nomura, Osmosis and JGP, are among those set to take part in the Principles for Responsible Investment’s (PRI) Spring stewardship project, aiming to halt global biodiversity loss by 2030.
The investor engagement initiative is designed to tackle the systemic risk of nature loss and long-term portfolio value by enhancing corporate practices on forest loss and land degradation.
Currently, 204 investors – representing $15trn in assets under management – publicly support the initiative and, out of these investors, 66 will be actively involved in the engagements with 40 focus companies.
Companies across the food and agriculture, mineral mining, automotive, chemicals and banking sectors are included in the engagement, from L’Oreal and Toyota, to Bayer and Brasil Foods. In the coming months, PRI will convene smaller engagement groups for each of the 40 companies to develop targeted and constructive engagement strategies.
These companies were identified as influential actors in the forest loss and land degradation field due to either their direct or indirect exposure, or their significant role in engaging policy makers. Investors are expected to engage with companies to improve the nature impacts in their business operations, alongside risk management, supply chain management and political engagement.
The Spring initiative also specifically focuses on geographies that have critical natural ecosystems and face future risk of forest loss and land degradation. It will engage with companies from emerging markets, including Brazil, as well as those from regions that source forest risk commodities from these countries.
David Atkin, chief executive of PRI, said: ”Nature risk is climate risk. What we are seeing today from investors is a recognition of the importance of nature when managing material investment risks, including deforestation and biodiversity loss, when aligned with their individual fiduciary duty.
“Spring provides an opportunity to our signatories to address the financially material risks stemming from global nature loss. In doing so, we’re also supporting the investment community’s contribution to and alignment with the objectives and targets of the Global Biodiversity Framework agreed by more than 190 governments.”
Further, Gayaneh Shahbazian, biodversity engagement manager at Morningstar Sustainalytics, added: “We are excited to announce our active participation in PRI Spring, an ambitious stewardship initiative to address biodiversity loss. We are proud to contribute to a large-scale collaborative engagement effort, which aligns closely with Morningstar Sustainalytics Biodiversity and Natural Capital Stewardship programme.
“Since its inception in 2022, our programme has been dedicated to supporting investors in aligning their portfolios towards a nature-positive economy by engaging with key companies across the agricultural value chain.
“Joining PRI Spring will further clarify expectations of companies to reduce their impact on biodiversity and support activities that target positive change. Furthermore, this initiative aims to engage companies to conduct responsible political engagement, an important lever to halt and reverse biodiversity loss.”
