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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.
December 2020
December 10, 2020
Five Years Lost: How Finance is Blowing the Paris Carbon Budget
Profundo has carried out financial research for this report, which exposes the banks and investors that are providing financing to the fossil fuel companies developing large-scale, contested coal, oil and gas expansion projects. 12 case studies in the report highlight the immense environmental damage, violation of Indigenous rights, negative health impacts, human rights concerns and expected CO2 emissions caused by each of the projects.
December 8, 2020
South Korean Companies Have Outsized Impact on Palm Oil Leakage Market
This report discusses the role of South Korean companies in the worldwide
palm oil market and the country’s position as an owner of oil palm concessions,
a buyer of palm oil products, and a financier of palm oil operations. The analysis
highlights the country’s role in the palm oil “leakage market," which trades
unsustainable palm oil from growers and producers that are not compliant with
No Deforestation, No Peat, No Exploitation (NDPE) policies.
December 3, 2020
JBS, Marfrig, and Minerva: Material Financial Risk from Deforestation in Beef Supply Chains
JBS, Marfrig, and Minerva are the largest meat processors in Brazil, dominating
beef processing and exports. The cattle industry is the main driver of
deforestation in Brazil. This report, which builds on CRR’s earlier JBS analysis,
assesses the companies’ exposure to deforestation and analyses their market,
reputation, and technology risks. CRR has located and monitored 1,545 direct
suppliers and 3,164 indirect suppliers that are connected to the top three
meatpackers in seven states in the Cerrado and Amazon biomes.
December 9, 2020
Controversial arms trade and investments of insurers
For this case study by the Dutch Fair Insurance Guide (EVW), Profundo has researched the investments of the nine largest Dutch insurers in arms companies that supply arms to countries that are currently in armed conflict, or that seriously violate human rights.
December 3, 2020
Fair Insurance Guide Germany, 2nd update
The German Fair Finance Guide coalition has for the second time assessed the responsible investment policy of the largest German insurance companies, based on the Fair Finance Guide methodology. This methodology was developed by Profundo, together with the NGOs participating in the Fair Finance International (FFI) network. Profundo has advised the German Fair Finance Guide coalition in the course of this assessment.
November 2020
November 17, 2020
Monitoring the Sustainability Status of the Dutch Coffee Sector: Tracking Progress Beyond Certification
Commissioned by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL), this research assesses options for a more comprehensive monitoring of the Dutch coffee sustainability status. The previous approach of measuring progress based on the market share of certified coffee is perceived as not adequately accounting for the increasingly diversified sustainability strategies chosen by sector actors. The report identifies options for and barriers to a broadened approach to monitoring progress and impacts.
November 12, 2020
A Just Energy Transition for Africa - Mapping the impacts of ECAs active in the energy sector in Ghana, Nigeria, Togo and Uganda
This report examines, from the perspective of communities in African countries affected by energy projects supported by export credit insurance, the best way to limit global warming to 1.5° Celsius on the one hand and to promote access to energy in these countries on the other. In addition, it analyses the question of what the role of public financial institutions such as export credit insurers could be in promoting a green energy future in countries in Africa.
November 5, 2020
The dark side of Neste's biofuel production
This study, commissioned by Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands), investigates the unsustainable practices linked to Neste's palm oil supply chain. Neste is the world's largest producer biofuel biodiesel and jet biofuel, while stressing its commitment to sustainability. The study finds that companies in its supply chain can be connected to at least 10,000 ha of deforestation, an area the size of Paris, in the period from January 2019 to June 2020, and around 13,000 fire alerts in 2019.
November 12, 2020
2020 Global Coal Exit List
Profundo has provided data to Urgewald for the 2020 Global Coal Exit List.
November 9, 2020
The EIB’s Economic Resilience Initiative: A portfolio and thematic analysis
Profundo has been commissioned by Counter Balance to evaluate the Economic Resilience Initiative (ERI) of the European Investment Bank (EIB), a series of financing projects carried out since 2016 under the European Union’s External Lending Mandate (ELM) in the Southern Neighbourhood and Western Balkans regions, with the stated objective of supporting the economic resilience of refugees, migrants, host and transit communities and communities of origin as part of the EU’s strategic response to the migration crisis.
November 2, 2020
Financing of Arms Companies – Policies and Practices of Swiss Banks
For the Swiss Bündnis für ein Verbot von Kriegsgeschäften, Profundo has carried out research into the financing of arms companies by three major Swiss banks: Credit Suisse, the Swiss National Bank, and UBS.
October 2020
October 28, 2020
Bankrolling Extinction: The Banking Sector's Role in the Global Biodiversity Crisis
This report is a first attempt to quantify the impact of 50 banks on sectors linked to biodiversity loss and naming the 10 banks providing the most finance. It finds that in 2019, the world’s largest banks invested more than USD 2.6 trillion (c. entire GDP of Canada) in sectors which governments and scientists agree are the primary drivers of biodiversity destruction. None of the banks assessed have chosen to put sufficient systems in place to monitor or measure the impact of their loans on biodiversity, nor do they have comprehensive policies to halt it.
Report: Bankrolling Extinction: The Banking Sector's Role in the Global Biodiversity Crisis (pdf)
Bisnis.com: Waduh! Kredit Bank Besar Global Senilai US$2,6 Triliun Ancam Keberagaman Hayati
Bloomberg: Banks Directed $2.6 Trillion to Biodiversity Loss
Dagens PS: Tryck på storbanker att sluta utrota djur
EcoWatch: New Report Shows Banks Loaned $2.6 Trillion Linked to Biodiversity Loss in 2019
Edie: Banks and agribusiness linked to biodiversity loss
FR24 News: The world’s banks must start valuing nature and stop paying for its destruction
Reuters: Bank loans scrutinized for harm to wildlife as well as climate
The Guardian: Banks lent $2.6tn linked to ecosystem and wildlife destruction in 2019 – report
October 27, 2020
Complicity in Destruction III: How Global Corporations Enable Violations of Indigenous Peoples' Rights in The Brazilian Amazon
This new edition of Complicity in Destruction III, published by the Association of Brazil’s Indigenous Peoples (APIB) in partnership with Amazon Watch, reveals how a network of leading international financial institutions is linked to conflicts on Indigenous lands, illegal deforestation, land grabbing, the weakening of environmental protections, and the production and export of conflict commodities.
October 23, 2020
Women’s Rights Violations in Dutch Palm Oil Supply Chains: The Case Of Guatemala
This report was compiled by ActionAid Netherlands and ActionAid Guatemala. It presents documented human rights violations through palm oil production in Guatemala and the links that exist between these violations and the Netherlands
through the palm oil value chain and the Port of Rotterdam.
October 1, 2020
Brandbeschleuniger Soja: Handlungsoptionen gegen Entwaldung durch Futtermittelimporte nach Deutschland
For Environmental Action Germany (Deutsche Umwelthilfe), Profundo has investigated the German market for soy from South America. The research highlights the heavy dependence of German intensive animal husbandry on soy imports, and their connection to illegal deforestation of tropical rainforests. The import of soy is therefore a dangerous fire accelerant for the destruction of species-rich habitats and forests such as the Cerrado and the Amazon rainforest. The report provides a set of criteria for comprehensive supply chain due diligence, critically reviews the role of TSD chapters in trade agreements and summarizes key recommendations for effective legislation to achieve deforestation-free commodity supply chains.
October 27, 2020
Friends of the Earth Netherlands (Milieudefensie), Oxfam Novib, Amnesty International Netherlands, PAX & World Animal Protection Netherlands
Fair Bank Guide Netherlands, 18th update
The Fair Bank Guide is a consumer's tool. More and more consumers consider it of great importance that their bank invests in a sustainable way. The Fair Bank Guide website (www.eerlijkebankwijzer.nl) tries to involve consumers in realising the Fair Bank Guide's goals.
De Telegraaf: Bankbeleid: vrouwenrechten en aanpak taksontwijking kunnen beter
Duurzaam Beleggen: Bankbeleid duurzamer, vrouwenrechten en aanpak belastingontwijking blijven achter
Nu.nl: Klimaatbeleid van banken steeds beter, onvoldoende voor vrouwenrechten
Reformatorisch Dagblad: Bankbeleid: vrouwenrechten en aanpak taksontwijking kunnen beter
October 25, 2020
Who is profiting from Brazilian soy? An analysis of the Dutch soy supply chain
This research analyses the role of Brazilian soy in the overall domestic soy use on the Dutch market, and aims to estimate the revenues and profit generated from it by a selection of key industry stakeholders at different levels of the supply chain – from import and crush to animal feed to livestock product processing and eventually retailing.
Report: Who is profiting from Brazilian soy? An analysis of the Dutch soy supply chain
AgriHolland: 'Nederlandse bedrijven verdienen miljoenen aan sojaimport uit Brazilië'
FoodPro: 'Nederlandse bedrijven verdienen miljoenen aan sojaimport uit Brazilië'
Zembla: Dit verdienen Albert Heijn en FrieslandCampina aan Braziliaanse soja
October 15, 2020
Fossil Fuel Portfolio of Credit Suisse and UBS
Profundo has carried out financial research for the Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) on the fossil fuel portfolios of Swiss banks Credit Suisse and UBS.
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