DNB AM's launches new expectations to companies on Health and Sustainable Food Systems

Health and sustainable food systems has been a thematic focus area in our work with responsible investments since 2021. This means that we work systematically with the topic, including engaging with companies, setting targets, and measuring progress. More details can be found in our Annual Report on Responsible Investments. Our expectations documents guide active ownership activities and are useful tools in our work with responsible investments.

These new expectations on health and sustainable food systems are particularly relevant for companies in the food and beverage industry, including primary production, processing, packaging, distribution and marketing. They also apply to pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, addressing issues like antimicrobial resistance (AMR), harmful chemicals and access to medicine.

We have defined the main challenge as “supplying a sufficient and healthy diet for every person whilst preserving the integrity of the biosphere, now and in the future”. This is further split into two sub-challenges. The first is about ensuring availability and consumption of sufficient and healthy food for all, while the second concerns sustainable food production, which incorporates environmental and ethical considerations.

One of the key topics of our work is AMR, which is closely tied to both health and food systems, as most of the global antimicrobial use occurs in animal agriculture. WHO has stated that AMR is one of the biggest threats to global safety. Bacterial infections, which are failed to be cured due to AMR, claim at least 700 000 human lives per year globally, and there are projections suggesting that 10 million lives will be lost yearly by 2050. With predicted losses of USD $100 trillion in global productivity by 2050, effective while protecting human, animal and environmental health.