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Projects

To illustrate our broad expertise, covering many different economic sectors, commodities, sustainability themes and countries, this page gives an overview of the different projects executed by Profundo over the years. In the menu, you can filter the projects by thematic area. Each project is described briefly and where available the project portfolio - such as reports, brochures or presentations - is provided. Attention is also given to the exposure generated by the project in the media, in politics and elsewhere.

 

We analyse the financial parameters of companies and assess how companies and their financiers could be affected in different scenarios by Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) risks related to deforestation, climate change emissions, human rights abuses, resource depletion, health impacts and other sustainability issues.
We analyse the various human rights and other sustainability risks in international commodity supply chains and identify what different stakeholders can do to foster sustainable development of value chains in agriculture, forestry, livestock, energy, fisheries and mineral sectors.
We analyse how companies are financed by banks, shareholders and others financiers, to assess what financiers could do to foster sustainable corporate practices. Also, we dig into ownership structures and the schemes companies have set up to minimise tax payments.
We assess and benchmark responsible investment and credit policies of banks and investors and we advise on how policies can be improved and implemented through screening, voting, engagement and exclusion strategies.

November 2024

November 4, 2024
Financing of weapons used by Israel in Gaza
This report analyses the financing of companies that manufacture the weapons used in the massacres against the Palestinian population. It focuses on the banks and arms companies that are profiting from the Israeli offensive against Gaza. To do so, the connections between the arms exports from different states to Israel in recent years, the arms companies that produce them and the banks that finance them are established and documented. Profundo did the financial research for this report.

October 2024

October 31, 2024
Global Coal Exit List 2024
Two weeks before the world’s governments meet for COP29 in Baku, urgewald and 51 NGO partners released the 2024 “Global Coal Exit List” (GCEL), a public database of 1,579 companies operating along the thermal coal value chain. 95% of the Coal Industry Still Has No Phase-Out Plan. Although we are already perilously close to overshooting the 1.5°C limit, the overwhelming majority of the world’s coal companies still refuse to transition. Out of the 1,579 parent companies and 1,204 subsidiaries on GCEL, only 124 companies – less than 5% of the total – have announced a coal exit date. Many of these coal exit dates are, however, far too late. Profundo conducted financial research for the list.
October 17, 2024
Plastic Banks Tracker
The ever increasing use of plastics pushes the world towards an environmental and health disaster, impacting every living being on the planet. The Plastic Banks Tracker targets the banks that fuel the production and processing of plastics - starting with single-use plastics. Profundo is primarily responsible for the research carried out by the Plastic Banks Tracker. This includes financial flows research and bank policy assessments.
October 16, 2024
Banking on Biodiversity Collapse 2024
The financial sector is playing a critical role in accelerating the global biodiversity crisis. This second annual Banking on Biodiversity Collapse report provides the latest analysis of how global finance drives tropical deforestation and ecosystem degradation. Our new analysis reveals that over US$ 395 billion has been directed to forest-risk sectors since the Paris Agreement, with US$ 77 billion flowing in just the last year and a half.
October 15, 2024
Rabobank’s destructive financing of deforestation
This report provides an update of the key numbers of two reports published in 2023 on the profits, damage, and accountability of Rabobank’s financing of forest-risk activities related to soy, beef, and pulp and paper that put pressure on Brazilian biomes. The calculated damages include environmental and social damage but exclude the damage to the intrinsic value of nature and the loss of culture and cultural diversity as these cannot be calculated. In 2023, Rabobank generated an estimated € 3.9 billion (low-end scenario) to €33 billion (high-end scenario) additional damages in Brazil linked to its Dutch and Brazilian financing activities. For the whole period 2000-2023, the total estimated damage was between € 69.9 billion and € 491.8 billion.
October 22, 2024
Investments in the Energy Sector
Of the investments of banks, insurers and pension funds in the energy sector, only 16% go to renewable energy and no less than 84% to fossil fuels. The bank ING and insurer Allianz are investing the most in fossil fuels. This report analyses the financings and investments in fossil fuels and renewable energy made by 33 financial institutions operating in the Netherlands during 2016–2023, except for bond holdings, which are analysed at the most recent filing date, August 2024. It is a follow-up to earlier studies in 2015 (which focused on banks), 2018 (banks and insurance companies) and 2021 (banks, insurance companies and pension funds). Profundo conducted the research for this report.
October 16, 2024
CER
The Financing of onshore gas projects in South Africa
This report presents information on two major gas extraction projects in South Africa and the financiers behind the projects as well as the complexities of onshore gas development in South Africa. To illustrate the social, environmental and economic contexts, this report explores the global and regional contexts of gas development, specific dynamics within the country, and critical concerns raised by various stakeholders. It aims to provide an overview of the issues at play, from the potential environmental impact on water resources to the financial risks of stranded assets. With the limited information in the public domain, it examines the role of key players in the industry and scrutinises government policies and plans that will shape the nation’s energy landscape in the coming years. Profundo provided the financial research for this report.
October 16, 2024
Financial Regulations for Biodiversity
The Financial Regulations for Biodiversity report assesses financial regulations for tropical biodiversity and finds they are almost nonexistent.The assessment of regulations in 5 key jurisdictions: Brazil, Indonesia, China, the EU and the USA, finds that governments are at sleep at the wheel and that there is an almost complete lack of regulations. It urges governments and regulators to implement strong regulations to ensure financial flows are shifted and towards alignment with the Global Biodiversity Framework. Profundo is part of the Forests & Finance coalition that released this report.
October 10, 2024
Financing new nuclear
WISE Netherlands commissioned this research to provide a clear picture of the current-day construction costs of a nuclear power plant. With a particular focus on the government’s share of financing the construction of nuclear power plants, a price to be paid by the taxpayer. Profundo analysed six recent nuclear power plants and examined the costs incurred, the financing structures and the construction time.The six nuclear energy projects examined were all found to have been built with significant construction time and cost overruns. Even the projects that were relatively the least disappointing were still more than 60% more expensive or built slower than planned.

September 2024

September 26, 2024
Barclays Linked to Landgrabbing Brazil
Financial powerhouses including Barclays, Vanguard and BlackRock made millions from financing Brazilian meatpacker JBS, whose operations are driving destruction of Apyterewa Indigenous land. British bank Barclays earned $1.7 billion from financing Brazilian meat giant JBS over the last five years as the company’s operations contributed to the invasion and destruction of an Indigenous territory in Brazil, an investigation led by climate organisation Global Witness can reveal. Profundo conducted the financial research for this report which shows Barclays emerged as the largest creditor to JBS’s global operations, with the highest income generated from loans and underwriting fees among over 30 other financiers we identified.
September 9, 2024
South African Mining Sector
South Africa's mining sector is vital to the global energy transition, particularly in the production of key minerals like chrome and manganese. However, the industry faces significant challenges, including hazardous working conditions, low wages, inadequate and unaffordable housing, and resistance to unionization. report presents the results of a study that mapped the mineral mining value chain in South Africa, identifying key stakeholders such as producers, traders, processors, and buyers. The study assessed leading companies’ due diligence policies and practices, exploring linkages between downstream and upstream companies, and thorough analysis of challenges related to labour rights in the value chain. It also focused on women, youth and other vulnerable groups, particularly migrant workers. Profundo conducted the research for this report.
September 18, 2024
Corporations Fuel Climate Crisis Global South
New ground-breaking ActionAid research examines the use of public funds in the Global South, and finds that the same industries that are fuelling the climate crisis are draining public funds from Global South governments. While the use of public subsidies to strengthen communities’ access to food and energy can often be motivated in the public interest, the unquestioning public financing of climate-destructive fossil fuel and industrial agribusiness instead of people-centred climate solutions for food and energy, is short-sighted and self-defeating. Profundo conducted the financial research for this report.

August 2024

August 21, 2024
Eko
AXA's Divestment from Israeli Banks
This report reveals that global insurer AXA has fully divested from all five complicit Israeli banks as of 24 June 2024. For Eko, Profundo investigated the investments of AXA in bond and shares issued by five Israeli banks: Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, Israel Discount Bank, First International Bank of Israel and Mizrahi Tefahot Bank. The United Nations denounced all five banks for their complicity in war crimes against Palestinians. All five banks are the backbone of Israel’s illegal military settlement enterprise enabling its expansion through vital loans and funding. This report makes it evident AXA engaged in clear, fast, and intentional divestment from Israeli banks financing war crimes in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. In addition, the report lists the top 50 investors in the five selected Israeli banks.
August 14, 2024
Sugarcane Value Chains of Bolivia and Nicaragua
Worldwide, people working in the sugarcane plantations and the local cane sugar industry are paid salaries well below a living wage. This study by Profundo, commissioned by CNV Internationaal, reveals the profit earned in the downstream segments of the cane sugar value chain. The increasing revelations about the low salaries in the upstream segments contrast with the earnings generated downstream, often by (global) brands and large companies. The focus is on where the profit value is generated within Bolivia and Nicaragua's cane sugar supply and value chains. This is embedded in the global context of the leading downstream companies profiting the most from the cane sugar trade.

July 2024

July 9, 2024
Investing in Climate Chaos 2024
The 2024 update of Investing in Climate Chaos is now live. Gigantic floods, catastrophic hurricanes, devastating fires, and horrific heatwaves are happening all around the world. At the same time, investors make gigantic profits from investing in fossil fuel companies which are causing exactly this climate crisis. At COP28 in Dubai, the international community agreed to “transition away” from fossil fuels. In May 2024, however, over 7,500 institutional investors still held bonds and shares in coal, oil, and gas companies to the tune of $4.3 trillion. The Investing in Climate Chaos website is a tool for citizens’ movements, customers and regulators to hold pension funds, insurers, and asset managers accountable. The financial research was conducted by Profundo.

June 2024

June 20, 2024
PAX
European financial institutions investing in arms companies that sell weapons to Israel
A new report published by a group of 19 civil society organizations and trade unions exposes the largest European financial institutions investing in international arms producers that sell weapons to Israel. In total, these financial institutions have provided 36.1 billion EUR in loans and underwritings, and hold 26 billion EUR in shares and bonds in these companies. By selling weapons to Israel, arms producers run a high risk of facilitating ongoing severe violations of international humanitarian law, crimes against humanity and, plausibly, genocide in Gaza. The banks, pension funds and other asset owners providing finance to these companies should take urgent action and divest from companies that do not immediately stop selling arms to Israel. Profundo provided the financial data for this study.
June 14, 2024
Climate emissions by Bitcoin mining companies and their financiers
For Greenpeace USA we developed an innovative approach for estimating the energy consumption and carbon emissions from 20 listed Bitcoin mining companies, using electricity grid emissions data and analytical support from nonprofit WattTime. We found that, in 2022, the 20 companies emitted as much carbon to the atmosphere as two coal power plants in a year, over 7.8 million metric tons CO2. Further, we calculated the financed and facilitated carbon emissions attributed to lending, shareholding, bondholding, and underwriting for Bitcoin miners from financial services companies. We identified American investors Trinity Capital, Stone Ridge Holdings, BlackRock, Vanguard, and MassMutual as the top five financiers, accounting for over 1.7 million metric tons CO2 in 2022—equal to the emissions from over 335,000 American homes using electricity for a year
June 11, 2024
Dutch banks and human rights violations
For the Dutch Fair Bank Guide, we assessed how four Dutch banks deal with human rights risks in relation to their credit and investment relationships with extractive companies. The study indicates that, while these Dutch banks are committed to international human rights standards, none of them acts adequately in practice.
June 13, 2024
Assessing Financial Flows within the South West Indian Ocean Blue Economy
This study for WWF first analyses the financial flows in the South West Indian Ocean blue economy. Investments and loans to the SWIO region are primarily of foreign origin and directed towards unsustainable commercial activities such as energy and mineral resource extraction. The study then examines the effectiveness of voluntary policies and government regulations in place to mitigate the environmental, social and governance risks inherent in financing ocean-based commercial ventures. Most financiers do not have sufficiently comprehensive ESG policies in place to manage their exposure to ocean-related risks, and that there is currently little regulation to ensure that financial flows into the region are directed towards activities that are sustainable and inclusive.
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