Major fund manager
Fidelity has huge investments in companies like Bunge, Noble Group, Golden-Agri Resources and Resolute Forest Products that grow, trade or use palm oil, cattle and soy in their products but have failed to eliminate deforestation and human rights abuses from their operations. This means Fidelity has a key role to play in voting for No Deforestation policies at these companies and engaging with company management to make sure these policies are implemented. Tell Fidelity to adopt a No Deforestation Policy!
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12.08%
INVESTED IN DEFORESTATION-RISK COMPANIES
AGRIBUSINESS
deforestation-risk producers and traders of palm oil, paper/pulp, rubber, timber, cattle, and soy
BANKS AND LENDERS
that finance deforestation-risk agribusiness producers via lending and underwriting
MAJOR CONSUMER BRANDS
that use deforestation-risk agribusiness commodities in products
289
FUNDS ANALYZED
4,923
HOLDINGS FLAGGED
12%
OF ASSETS FLAGGED
How Fidelity is invested in the climate crisis
Fidelity Investments is the fifth largest asset manager in the world (and fourth largest in the United States) with over $2.7 trillion of assets under management. Fidelity has billions of dollars invested in fossil fuels and agribusinesses responsible for deforestation – the two greatest contributors to the climate crisis.
Fidelity's climate risk by the numbers*
- $81 BILLION invested in fossil fuels and agribusiness - the two greatest contributors to the climate crisis.
- $4 BILLION invested in deforestation-risk agribusiness companies (palm oil, paper/pulp, rubber, timber, cattle, and soy).
- $78 BILLION invested in fossil fuel companies in Fidelity funds. (See more on Fidelity's fossil fuel investments at Fossil Free Funds.)
- $33 MILLION invested in fossil fuels and agribusiness in Fidelity's so-called "sustainable" funds.
*As of January 2020. Portfolios analyzed include U.S.-domiciled open-end funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with at least 40% of assets invested directly in equities. Figures do not include any exposure from other asset classes such as fixed income funds, collective trusts, or funds domiciled outside the U.S. Some companies tracked are active in both fossil fuels and agribusiness, and this is reflected in the totals.
Fidelity's investments in deforestation and climate crisis include exposure to companies that are driving unprecedented fires in the Amazon Rainforest, destruction of critical wildlife habitats in Indonesia, and gross human rights violations around the world.
- Bunge, Archer Daniels Midland, and JBS have expansive plantations in Brazil that helped create the conditions for fires in the Amazon Rainforest resulting in the destruction of hundreds of thousands of hectares of forest. JBS in particular has also been implicated in illegal practices and corruption.
- Wilmar International is the largest palm oil trader in the world and holds a land bank of over 1,500,000 acres in Malaysia, Indonesia, West Africa and the Congo basin. Wilmar's operations have been frequently linked with deforestation, land grabbing, water pollution, protracted conflicts, bribery, destruction of critical wildlife habitat and forest fires. In 2013, Wilmar adopted a No Deforestation, No Peatland Destruction, No Exploitation policy; however independent reports have found that since 2013, Wilmar's suppliers have cleared a forest area totaling 21,500 hectares.
- Posco and its subsidiary PT Bio Inti Agrindo (PT BIA) are responsible for destroying 26,500 hectares of forest in Indonesia's Papua province. In 2015, the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund divested from Posco Daewoo/Posco International and in June 2018 ABP, the world fifth largest pension fund, divested 300,000 Euros from the company over its failure to address deforestation.
What is in Fidelity's supposed "sustainable" funds?
Fidelity currently offers four funds that have a sustainability mandate. However, two out of four of State Street's "sustainable" funds include investments in both fossil fuels and deforestation-risk agribusiness companies.
- The dirtiest "sustainable" fund contains $18 MILLION in fossil fuel and deforestation-risk agribusiness companies.
- In total, Fidelity's "sustainable funds" contain $33 MILLION in the companies driving the climate crisis.
More needed in terms of policies and practices when it comes to environmental sustainability
Fidelity has no explicit policies on deforestation or land grabbing. Despite a number of statements and webpages on sustainable investing that mention “environmental impact,” “ESG issues,” and “climate change and carbon emissions,” the firm lacks policies that indicate how it takes into account climate, increased emissions, and deforestation in its investment approach. While climate change and carbon emissions are specifically mentioned, deforestation and its impacts are noticeably missing from Fidelity’s approach to sustainability and responsible investing.
What should Fidelity Do?
- Make sustainability the default: Make fossil fuel and deforestation-free funds the default for all its investment products.
- Disclose its exposure to climate, deforestation, and related human rights risks.
- Commit to robust climate and no deforestation policies in order to reduce exposure to ESG risk and drive change in investee companies.
- Exclude from investment portfolios companies that routinely engage in deforestation, human rights abuses, and massive carbon emissions.
- Repair the damage by engaging with companies to remedy past harms through restoring damaged forests and eco-systems and implementing active and responsive grievance mechanisms.
Help Fidelity clean up its act on deforestation and climate risk. Sign the petition
289 funds with $169.5B in stocks of deforestation-risk agribusiness, banks and lenders, and major consumer brands
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