Forest 500

The Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) have been voluntarily endorsed by a global network of investors, publicly committing them to a set of six principles that encourage long-term responsible investment.

Launched in April 2006, PRI is an investor-led coalition in partnership with the United Nations Environmental Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) and the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC). It was initiated by the UN and developed by a multi-stakeholder group including the global investment industry, intergovernmental organisations, civil society and academia. It now has 1,260 signatories (asset owners, investment managers and service providers) from around the world, with combined assets under management of US$45 trillion. PRI provides a means for investment companies to incorporate environment, social and governance (ESG) issues into investment analysis and decision-making, and to encourage other finance industry actors to do the same. Although the Principles do not refer to forest risk commodity markets specifically, commodities are a key concern amongst the PRI signatories and as a result, a commodities workstream has been formed. Sustainable palm oil is one of PRI’s 15 priority engagement topics and in 2010 a dedicated PRI Sustainable Palm Oil Investor Working Group (IWG) was formed to try and improve company practices throughout the palm oil value chain. The group has 28 member organisations, assets of US$2.8 trillion, and is growing rapidly. In 2013 it began an engagement programme with palm oil suppliers to encourage them to follow principles established by the Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). The IWG, which includes palm oil giants Wilmar and Golden Agri Resources, supports large palm oil producers that are committed to no deforestation, no development on peat and no exploitation of people, land and communities. There is also a Farmland Working Group, formed in 2011, which has developed a sub-set of five Farmland Principles. These are more explicitly concerned with environmental sustainability, resource usage and ethics relating to agricultural commodity production.

Every year PRI publishes a list of signatories that have been delisted from the initiative due to environmental, social or corporate governance concerns. In 2014, 121 signatories were delisted, mainly due to governance concerns. During the same period 177 new signatories were enlisted. As well as providing a global network of investors, PRI works in partnership with many other organisations and initiatives, such as: the UNEP FI; the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC); the Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC); Ceres/Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR); the Asian Investor Group on Climate Change (AIGCC); and the RSPO. It is also a partner of the Caring for Climate initiative, a partnership between the UN Global Compact, UN Environment Programme and UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.