The Frenchman Arash Derambarsch is the winner of 2019 Gothenburg Sustainability Award.

Motivation of the jury:
Arash Derambarsch’s ideas, initiative and effort to reduce food waste have resulted in a change in the law in France prohibiting French food stores and restaurants from discarding or destroying food that cannot be sold. The law requires them to cooperate with charities or “food banks” instead, so that the food benefits those in need.
The UN’s Global Goals include halving global food waste throughout the food chain by 2030. To achieve this goal, a change of attitude is needed, not only at the consumer level, but also in terms of systematic changes such as the French law on food waste.
Arash Derambarsch’s work has inspired people around the world and helped raise the issue of food waste on the global agenda. He has shown by example that it is possible to make a difference and to take concrete steps in the direction of sustainability in terms of food waste.

Read more here.

WIN WIN Gothenburg Sustainability Award is appointed in collaboration with the City of Gothenburg, Region Västra Götaland and several partner companies (e.g. AP2). The aim is to encourage continued improvement and acknowledge strategic work in sustainable development, both nationally and internationally. The prize has awarded since 2000 and the reward is 1 million SEK.

The Church of England Pensions Board and the Council of Ethics of the Swedish National Pension Funds (the Council on Ethics) will represent investors through the industry organisation PRI (Principles for Responsible Investment) in a joint initiative with ICMM (International Council on Mining & Metals) and the UN (UN Environment Program) with the aim of creating an international standard for mine tailing dams.

This work is part of the overall commitment that the Council on Ethics and the Church of England Pensions Board run to improve the safety of mine tailing dams globally.

Read the press release here (PDF document, 122 kB):

The Brazilian mining company Vale S.A has within a short timeframe been involved in two major accidents where tailings dams in Minas Gerais in Brazil has collapsed, with multiple fatalities and extensive environmental devastation.

The Council, together with other investors, has conducted an extensive dialogue with Vale after the first accident at Mariana in late 2015. The focus has primarily been on ensuring that the company took responsibility for that accident but also that the company carried out a review regarding the safety of its other tailings dams in their operations.

Vale has continuously reported a number of measures taken regarding the management of mining waste and increased safety at their tailings dams, including revised emergency plans and third-party reviews of the dams. However, after the latest accident at Corrego do Feijao in January 2019, the Council’s perception is that Vale has not acted sufficiently on the promised measures after the first accident at Mariana.

It would appear that the company did not act sufficiently quickly on reported deficiencies regarding the safety of the tailings dam in Corrego do Feijao. The consequences of the company’s actions have had devastating and tragic consequences, both for the local population, company employees and the environment around Corrego do Feijao.

The Council on Ethics of the AP Funds therefore recommends AP1, AP2, AP3 and AP4 to exclude Vale S.A because the Council has lost confidence in Vale and the company can be linked to violation of;

• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 3; ” Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.”
• ILO convention (No. 155) Occupational Safety and Health Convention, article 4:2; ”by minimizing, so far as is reasonably practicable, the causes of hazards inherent in the working environment.”
• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, “every human being has the inherent right to life”

Contact;
John Howchin, Secretary-general,
Council on Ethics of the Swedish National Pension Funds
john.howchin@councilonethics.orgOssian Ekdahl, Chairman,
Council on Ethics of the Swedish National Pension Funds
Ossian.Ekdahl@ap1.se
www.councilonethics.org

AP2 today publishes its second climate report in accordance with Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations.

With IPCC’s (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changes) special report on the impact of a global warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius, it has become even more evident that the transition needs to be fast and powerful. In 2018, AP2 continued its work on integrating climate into risk assessments and investment decisions, which is becoming increasingly important.

In the report two of the Fund’s unlisted real estate companies describe how they have worked with scenario analysis in order to better understand possible impact physical climate risks may have on their real estate portfolios.

Read the report.

Leading investors publish guidance to help the sector step up efforts to act on climate risk through scenario analyses.

• TCFD recommendations highlights scenario analysis as a tool to identify climate-related risks and opportunities, and their potential financial implications.
• Dedicated investor-led guidance on scenario analysis published to help investors fill the ‘scenario gap’ and put TCFD findings into practice.

A new guide published today by the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) will help steer investors through the process of climate scenario analysis1. Asking investors and companies to undertake scenario analysis is one of the key recommendations made last year by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), led by Michael Bloomberg and supported by Mark Carney as Chair of the Financial Stability Board2.

Published by IIGCC – the European investor group on climate change with more than 160 members representing over €21 trillion assets – the guide helps to close the knowledge gap on scenario analysis. Titled ‘Navigating climate scenario analysis’ [link to be added], it sets out a five-step framework to help asset owners and managers use scenario analysis, to understand how climate changes drives financial impact across their portfolios.

The significance of climate change as a consideration for investors is now clearly understood3. Scenario analysis provides a well-established tool in investment risk analysis, but its application to climate change is relatively recent. The guide aims to support investors in using scenario analysis to understand how different climate scenarios could affect future returns and identify new investment opportunities.

Stephanie Pfeifer, CEO, IIGCC, explains: “Perhaps the most important conclusion of the guide we’ve published is that the journey is often the destination. Many benefits of scenario analysis for investors come through undertaking the process, experimenting with methodologies and learning about the ways in which climate change drives financial impacts. For some investors the exercise can affect strategic asset allocation, for others it is about evolving their understanding of risk and opportunity for parts of their portfolio”.
Despite over 280 financial firms backing the initiative, the TCFD reported that no asset managers surveyed have yet described how their strategies might change under different
climate-related scenarios4. Nonetheless, several investors are emerging as ‘early adopters’ of scenario analysis, as case studies throughout the guide demonstrate.

Vicki Bakhshi, Director of Governance and Sustainable Investment, BMO Global Asset Management, adds: “Since the publication of the TCFD recommendations, the pace of innovation in the area of climate scenario analysis has been rapid and we have seen growing support among the investment community. But investors must increasingly turn words intoaction and start to embed climate change considerations into their own risk management practices. Scenario analysis in some form is a key part of this process.”

Driven by the TCFD recommendations, climate scenario analysis is increasingly recognised as a key part of an investor’s risk management armoury. With the impacts of climate change already becoming increasingly clear, there is an added imperative to ensuring adoption is mainstreamed to become a standard part of investor due diligence.
Christina Olivecrona, Sustainability Analyst, AP2 said: “The publication of the IPCC’s 1.5°C report last month was a powerful reminder that the physical impacts of climate change are not a distant and theoretical risk, but a present one. Investor methodologies in this area lag the corporate sector and we believe this area will need more attention from investors going forward.”

Contributors to the guide include AP2, APG, BMO Global Asset Management, HSBC Global Asset Management, UBS Asset Management, Allianz, PGGM and AXA, among notable others.
– Ends –

Media Contacts
Tom Fern, Head of Communications
E-mail: tfern@IIGCC.org
Mobile: +44 (0) 7867 360 273

Notes to editor
1. See ‘Navigating climate scenario analysis: a guide for institutional investors’ (November 2018), link
2. See ‘Recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (June 2017)’, link.
3. See ‘A Transition in Thinking and Action’ (April 2018), link – a Bank of England speech by Mark Carney on the issue as just one of many examples.
4. p24, TCFD: 2018 Status Report (September 2018), link.

About IIGCC
The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) is the European forum for investor collaboration on climate change and the voice of investors taking action for a prosperous, low-carbon future. IIGCC has more than 160 members, mainly pension funds and asset managers, across 11 countries, with over €21 trillion assets under management.
IIGCC’s mission is to mobilise capital for the low-carbon transition by collaborating with business, policymakers and fellow investors. IIGCC works to support and help define the public policies, investment practices and corporate behaviours that address the long-term risks and opportunities associated with climate change. Members consider it a fiduciary duty to ensure stranded asset risk or other losses from climate change are minimised and that opportunities presented by the transition to a low carbon economy – such as renewable energy, new technologies and energy efficiency – are maximised.
For more information visit www.iigcc.org and @iigccnews.

Kalundborg Symbiosis is this year’s winner of the WIN WIN Gothenburg Sustainability Award.

Motivation of the jury
In today’s modern world, we take many industrial products for granted. At the same time, the planet’s resources are limited. In order for us to maintain a high material standard of living, industry’s methods must become resource-efficient. An innovative way to get there is through industrial symbiosis.
Industrial symbiosis involves cooperation between different actors where waste or energy from one becomes a resource for the other. This recycles resources and saves energy while economically saving.

Read more here.

WIN WIN Gothenburg Sustainability Award is appointed in collaboration with the City of Gothenburg, Region Västra Götaland and several partner companies (e.g. AP2). The aim is to encourage continued improvement and acknowledge strategic work in sustainable development, both nationally and internationally. The prize has awarded since 2000 and the reward is 1 million SEK.

This week, Share Action/Asset Owner Dislosure Project published a best practice guide in which they interviewed 22 leading asset owners to see how they deal with opportunities and risks of climate change. In the guide AP2, which is one of the 22 interviewed asset owners, share how we work with the climate issue.

Read the report: https://aodproject.net/best-practice/

Second AP Fund has chosen to launch a new logo that clearly shows the name, is graphically more easy-to-use and modern.

AP2’s Sustainability Report has been nominated four years in a row for “Best Reporting by an Asset Owner, Large Funds” and for the second year, the Fund received the “Commended” award.

AP2 Sustainability and Corporate Governance Report 2016. (PDF document, 1,7 MB)

AP2 has invested in a social bond issued by the World Bank with a focus on gender equality issues.

The purpose of the bond is to raise awareness on gender issues in general and empowerment of women and girls, thereby promoting economic growth, reducing poverty and creating the conditions for a more sustainable society. The bond is in line with the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, where gender equality is one of them.

Through AP2’s sustainability work and in several of the investments made, the Fund contributes to the sustainability goals. The fund has invested in social bonds since 2014 as these fit well in the global interest rate portfolio and contribute to diversification.