The Council on Ethics of the Swedish AP Funds (AP1, AP2, AP3 and AP4) have organised a group of institutional investors, representing EUR 7 trillion in combined assets under management, to collaboratively engage tech giants, aiming to strengthen their management of human rights risks and impacts.
Storebrand joined the initiative during the third quarter of 2023 and began engaging in calls to companies, as part of the work of the initiative, from the beginning of fourth quarter.
The primary goal of the initiative is to ensure that the companies take concrete measures to address operational and human rights risks pertaining to their products and business models, and to encourage more transparent reporting on the related impacts and efforts. The collaboration’s activities and results will be publicly reported.
Focused effort
The initiative will run for three years, from January 2023 until end of 2025. It builds on:
• the Investor Expectations issued by the Council on Ethics of the Swedish national pension funds (AP 1-4) in cooperation with the Danish Institute of Human Rights in 2020.
• UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs)
• Ranking Digital Rights (yearly published relevant data)
• Relevant Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) standards
To avoid duplication of and to build on other completed and existing investor efforts in this field, the Initiative will focus on influencing corporate practices regarding these issues in general:
▪ Content – for example, misinformation, hate speech and electoral interference and its impact on the society, such as democracy and polarisation. The elevated and differentiated risks connected to vulnerable groups, such as children and minorities, will be addressed with heightened attention.
▪ Corporate culture and structures – how human rights considerations are integrated in company culture and operations; enabling and expecting employees/contractors to act in line with stated corporate human rights commitments; internal grievance mechanisms such as whistleblowing.
▪ Access to remedy for rights holders – effective and accessible grievance mechanisms for affected individuals, groups and communities, supported by constructive stakeholder engagement to mitigate the (re)occurrence of human rights harms and related operational risks.
▪ Corporates’ interaction with authorities and regulators, including lobbying – ensuring the integrity of the synergistic relations, maintaining social license to operate and building trust, thus helping to proactively manage the regulatory risks connected to the business model.