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Aftonbladet, the most popular newspaper in Sweden, investigated Swedish funds and found that 3.5 billion Swedish Crowns (£295 million) has been invested in 5 corporations linked to deforestation in the Amazon.
The five corporations identified by Aftonbladet include the meat giants JBS and Minerva, venture capital firm Blackstone and soya companies ADM and Bunge. JBS and Minerva are well-known for their links to deforestation and were targeted by Greenpeace in 2009 in a campaign that led to the creation of a moratorium on cattle in the Amazon.
Out of all the banks investigated by Aftonbladet, Nordea invested the most in funds linked to deforestation. It was followed by 7AP-Fund, which is connected to the Swedish state. SEB, Handelsbanken and Danske Bank were also found to invest in unsustainable funds. Yet, some of these have been classified by the banks as sustainable!
Since the report was released, 2000 Swedes have contacted their banks to demand immediate change. Some gave also stated that they will switch bank if their current one doesn’t stop investing in unsustainable corporations.
Aftonbladet’s findings are terrible on their own, but if the newspaper had broadened its investigation to all rainforest destruction, they would have found links between Swedish funds and deforestation in South-East Asia as well. Handelsbanken, Nordea, Swedbank and many other major banks have been linked to investments in palm oil companies responsible for deforesting the Indonesian and Malaysian rainforests. This was established by the Norwegian NGO Rainforest Foundation a few years ago, but it did not inspire people to demand that their banks make changes.