Projects

During the last two years, Colombia, the world’s second most biodiverse country, has seen rapidly increasing deforestation. This report from Chain Reaction Research discusses the political changes that led to this surge in deforestation. It then focuses on the cattle supply chain, the most important sector exposing investors to deforestation risk in Colombia.

Since the palm oil sector is capital intensive and needs long-term financing, palm oil companies depend on bank loans. By investing in banks that provide loans to the palm oil industry, investors may indirectly face deforestation-related risks. Loans to a selection of 105 companies involved in the entire palm oil supply chain were analysed. The top 10 banks financing the palm oil sector were identified. Finally, the main investors of the top 10 banks are listed.

This is the 9th edition of Worldwide Investments in Cluster Munitions. This report shows that two major US arms producers that featured in the 2017 edition of the report, Textron and Orbital ATK, have declared publicly that they no longer produce any cluster munitions. Orbital ATK even declared publicly that cluster munitions have no place in the arsenal of a modern army. These developments are at least partly the result of the pressure from the financial sector.

This study examines the changes since the Paris Agreement on climate change (December 2015) in the lending and investment patterns of Dutch financial institutions, when it comes to renewable energy and fossil fuels. It shows that individual banks and insurance companies are staying far behind in the average trend towards increasing renewable energy financing.

This report provides an overview of the investments and loans of the seven largest banks in the energy sector in 2016 and 2017, the years after the Paris Agreement. Within the framework of the climate agreement, money flows must change to become sustainable. The aim was to see whether the agreement had an effect on the loans and investments of the banks in the energy sector. That is why it is compared with the 2009-2014 figures

The objective of this study was to estimate the carbon footprint of 15 Japanese financial institutions (both banking groups and insurance companies) through their shareholdings in the top 50 CO2 emitters in Japan. This research first identified the estimated C02 equivalent emissions of the top 50 CO2 emitters in Japan. It then identified the proportions of investments in these companies by the 15 selected financial institutions. Finally, the attributable estimated C02 equivalent emissions per financial institution was calculated as the proportion of the emissions on the basis of their percentage stake in the top 50 CO2 emitters.

Cencosud is a multi-brand retailer in South America, headquartered in Chile. The company is the fourth largest supermarket chain in Brazil, after Carrefour, GPA (Pão de Açúcar) and Walmart. Cencosud’s position in the beef supply chain may expose it to deforestation risks through the beef it sources from slaughterhouses, as cattle is a major driver of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon.

The Cerrado biome, covering over 20 percent of Brazil’s terrain, is a savannah region with high biodiversity and an important function for the water systems in Brazil. The region has experienced significant soy expansion during the last two decades. Soy expansion has been most prevalent in Matopiba, consisting of the states of Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí and Bahia. This paper analyses the impacts of the soy sector on deforestation and water availability, and how water issues in turn can impact soy production. It investigates how the water impacts within the region may translate into business risks for soy companies operating in the Cerrado.