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

DNB AM is launching our expectations document on health and sustainable food systems. Transforming food systems worldwide is a powerful way to address global climate, nature, and health emergencies while improving the lives of millions. Corporations must play a key role in this transition.

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Ingrid Aashildrød

Ingrid is an analyst within the team for Responsible Investments (RI). The RI team works closely with the portfolio managers, with the responsibility of analysing companies and portfolios to identify material environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks and opportunities. Ingrid works primarily with human rights, supply chains and health and sustainable food systems. She also supports our screening and engagement work as well as coordinating investor collaborations.

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Guides active ownership

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.

Relevance across various industries

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.

Defining the main challenge

Main challenge and sub-challenges covered by the expectations document

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.

Addressing antimicrobial resistance (AMR)

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 AMR mitigation strategies would offer substantial economic benefits while protecting human, animal and environmental health.

Expectations for companies

Overall, DNB AM expects companies to ensure board level oversight for material issues related to health and sustainable food systems. Companies should support relevant public health-related government interventions and refrain from lobbying against regulations aimed at promoting health and sustainable food systems. Furthermore, companies should promote innovation and sustainable practices. Additionally, companies must conduct relevant risk assessments, report transparently on key metrics, and uphold ethical standards. Specifically for AMR, companies should comply with the WHO guidelines for antibiotics use in food producing animals and report on targets, performance, sales and marketing policies, and R&D expenditure on antibiotic alternatives.

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