(January 7, 2014) — The Dutch pension giant ABP has dropped its investments in the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), citing public safety violations by the Japanese company.
“During and after the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, the Japanese company structurally violated our standards [of responsible investing],” the €296 billion fund said. “They have little regard for public safety. Repeated efforts by ABP have not led to a change of behavior in TEPCO and we have therefore decided to close TEPCO from the investment list.”
As of January 1, 2014, TEPCO has been added to the exclusion list that also includes Walmart, PetroChina, and 13 other global companies.
According to the list, ABP said the Japanese company “breached the United Nations Global Compact,” a policy initiative based on 10 principles of human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption.
“ABP does not invest in companies that are directly involved in the manufacture of anti-personnel landmines, cluster bombs, chemical or biological weapons, or nuclear weapons made in violation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty,” the asset owner said.
The fund maintains a nine-person environmental, social, and governance team responsible for implementing an integrated responsible investing approach across all asset classes.
Despite these efforts, ABP was named in the Don’t Bank on the Bomb report, produced by peace movement IKV Pax Christi, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, and economic consultancy Profundo, as a member of a “Hall of Shame.”
The report listed 298 investors with holdings of any of 27 nuclear weapon producers including Boeing, Rolls-Royce, and Safran. The Dutch pension had over $700 million invested in such companies as of July 2013.
Related content: Pensions and Asset Managers Blasted for Nuclear Weapon Investments, A Difficult Year for ABP