Foreword to Sustainable Investment Review Q4 2023
As is often the case, the fourth quarter was a busy one, with high levels of engagement activity with companies in our portfolio. These included a major working trip to Japan, where we conducted in person meetings with several of our portfolio companies. Some of the highlights and insights from the trip are shared an article in this report.
On the collaborative front, we participated in several major knowledge-sharing events, including the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) In Person conference in Tokyo, as well as the 12th United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights in Geneva. We conducted significant amounts of activity within collaborated initiatives on a broad set of issues, such as the net zero transition, chemical pollution, biodiversity, deforestation, living wages and human rights in the tech industry, as described in several entries in the section of this report on active ownership.
The quarter was also marked by a significant amount of planned and unplanned engagement activity related to conflict in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories (OPT): Gaza where a major war broke out in October, as well as the West Bank which simultaneously experienced a surge in armed conflict.
As of the time of publishing this report, reports from the United Nations indicated that the conflict had led to the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians and more than a thousand Israelis. The vast majority of the dead have been ordinary citizens, including a staggering number of children. The UN describes a dire humanitarian situation for Gaza’s 2.2 million residents, with basic aid deprived and mass starvation “inevitable” amid Israel’s blockade of the territory. Overall, this is one of the deadliest chapters in a long-running conflict in the OPT, spanning several decades with no clear resolution in sight.
Managing the risk of involvement in violations of human rights in conflict and high-risk areas is an issue that Storebrand has worked on for many years now, regularly screening our portfolios and evaluating companies that could be contributing to conflict. As the most recent outbreak of armed conflict in the OPT flamed up, we were in the middle of our annual screening, engagement and exclusion process for this region. This process, which is detailed in this report, has resulted in an exclusion so far and remains ongoing.