Work to tackle climate challenges is ‘too slow’ – AP7 CEO

Work to tackle climate change is “too slow and must be accelerated” despite such progress increasing “considerably”, according to AP7 CEO Richard Gröttheim.

In his foreword for the fund’s Sustainability Report 2019, he also said that climate change must not be forgotten as a result of the current Covid-19 pandemic.

“At the time of writing, the world is in the midst of a crisis – a crisis that is affecting businesses, societies and populations everywhere. It is important that this does not stop the work on tackling the climate issues. My hope is that we can learn a lot from the current situation when the acute phase has passed,” he wrote.

AP7 is part of Sweden’s premium pension and looks after the default option for savers, known as AP7 Såfa.

The fund has ownership in over 3,000 companies globally, which it says enables it to act as owners on a broad front and over a long term, and considering the interests of the entire market.

“Through active corporate governance, we are trying with other similar investors to draw up ground rules for companies; we then exert pressure on them to follow the rules.

“In this way, AP7 secures the financial interests of both current and future savers. We work mainly with four engagement methods as sustainable and responsible owners: actions at general meetings, engagement dialogue, public blacklisting, and legal processes,” the report stated.

For example in 2019, AP7 voted at 3685 of 3723 general meetings, approximately 99 per cent. It also had 14 ongoing legal proceedings at the end of 2019, together with other institutional investors.

In 2019, AP7 conducted engagement dialogue with 147 companies on a total of 217 cases of verified or potential violations of norms, with the aim of influencing the companies to act responsibly.

In addition, AP7 does not invest in companies that violate international norms regarding the environment, human rights, labour rights, and corruption. In December 2019, a total of 72 companies were blacklisted.

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