Athora Netherlands signs Finance for Biodiversity Pledge
22 September 2021 | 16:00
Athora Netherlands is one of the 75 financial institutions that have signed the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge. By signing the Biodiversity Pledge, we underline the importance of protecting and restoring biodiversity. Through this cooperation the financial sector contributes to a pressing global problem.
The Finance for Biodiversity Pledge is an initiative of a group of European financial institutions. The signing parties are calling on world leaders to take action to reverse the loss of nature in this decade, ahead of the United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP15) on biodiversity in October 2021. During this conference, new global agreements will be made to protect nature and halt the loss of biodiversity.
Signing the Pledge is in line with our sustainable investment policy. We do not want to invest in companies that cause serious damage to the environment, such as pollution, loss of biodiversity and depletion of natural resources. At the same time, we invest in companies that depend on healthy and varied ecosystems, such as food producers.
Five goals
The signatories of the Pledge commit themselves to five goals in the field of biodiversity: mutual cooperation and knowledge sharing, calling companies to account, determining the impact of investments on biodiversity, setting clear goals for increasing positive impact and then reporting on this transparently. The ultimate goal is to make a positive contribution to the preservation of biodiversity.
Jan de Pooter, CEO of Athora Netherlands: "The loss of biodiversity through human activity is a risk to society and to the financial sector. As a pension and life insurer, we therefore want to use our investments to contribute to the restoration of biodiversity and have a positive impact on the world around us. We look forward to working with the other signatories and the great results we can achieve together."
As a pension and life insurer, we want to encourage companies and countries to prepare themselves for the challenges we face together. Athora Netherlands tries to pave the way towards a sustainable society and at the same time generate long-term financial returns for our clients. Want to know more about our sustainable investment policy? Read more.