Cases / Finance, funds and markets · Netherlands · 2007–2021
Dutch pension fund ABP added forest land in 2007 and held Brazilian meat shares
Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.
Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
- The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
ABP, the Dutch public-sector pension fund, decided in 2007 to add forest land to its portfolio, and took 60 percent of a Mozambican forest fund whose plantation was found to occupy 32,000 hectares without land-use rights. By 2021 it held about 219 million dollars of shares in Brazilian meat companies, mostly JBS.
What?
ABP, the Dutch public-sector pension fund, moved into forest land in 2007 through a Mozambican fund and later held about 219 million dollars of shares in Brazilian meat companies. TNI/FIAN
Where?
Mozambique (Niassa) and Brazil; ABP is based in the Netherlands TNI/FIAN
When?
2007 (decision); September 2010 (Mozambican review); 2021 (Brazilian meat shares) TNI/FIAN
Who?
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Investment through a forest fund, and through shares in Brazilian meat companies.
6 of 6 questions answered from the record
What happened
The record, in order.
In 2007 ABP, the Dutch public-sector pension fund, decided to add forest land to its portfolio, citing stable and potentially high returns (TNI and FIAN, 2013).
ABP took 60 percent of the Global Solidarity Forest Fund; a September 2010 Mozambican review found that its Chikweti Forests of Niassa had occupied 32,000 hectares without land-use rights (TNI and FIAN, 2013).
A senior ABP portfolio manager set a target of about 1 billion euros in land investment under the slogan 'the world is our farm' (TNI and FIAN, 2013).
In 2021 ABP held about 219 million dollars of shares in Brazilian meat companies, most of it in JBS (Mongabay, 5 February 2021).
In court and with insurers
Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.
Lawsuits and rulings
No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.
Insurers
No insurer decision on record.
What we don't know
Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Record
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: ABP's later forest purchases through APG include about 70,000 hectares in the southern United States for about 462 million dollars, a third of Forico's 170,000 hectares in Tasmania, and New Zealand plantations (AI-CIO; GAI).
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: ABP's forest and agriculture portfolio is about 3 billion euros with a target of 5 billion, and about 200,000 hectares of certified forest were added in December 2025 (Top1000funds, 2023; IPE).
- None on record What the sources do not say: whether ABP has exited the Mozambican fund; the sources date from 2011 to 2013.
- None on record What the sources do not say: any tropical forest purchase by ABP; none was found in the sources reviewed.
Did the harm stop?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Who paid?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society— Researchers
Press and investigations
- Forestry: the inflation hedge with a low correlation to stocks and bonds (Top1000funds)Top1000funds / IPE · 2023-10
Communities and civil society
Connected cases
Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
- Corio, ABP and forest land investments (Netherlands) Netherlands · 2000–2021 Related matter
- ABP (Pension fund) — here: Dutch public-sector pension fund; investor in forest land and Brazilian meat shares; there: Dutch civil-service pension fund; reported main Corio shareholder; GSFF investor
- APG (Asset manager) — here: asset manager that holds ABP's forest investments; there: ABP's asset manager
- Global Solidarity Forest Fund (GSFF) (Asset manager) — here: forest fund in which ABP took a 60 percent stake; there: Global Solidarity Forest Fund, forestry fund in Mozambique
- Chikweti Forests of Niassa (Company) — here: plantation company whose occupation of 32,000 hectares was found by the 2010 review; there: GSFF subsidiary; plantations in Niassa
- Chikweti forestry plantations (Mozambique) Mozambique · 2007
- ABP (Pension fund) — here: Dutch public-sector pension fund; investor in forest land and Brazilian meat shares; there: Majority investor in GSFF
- Global Solidarity Forest Fund (GSFF) (Asset manager) — here: forest fund in which ABP took a 60 percent stake; there: Forest fund
- Chikweti Forests of Niassa (Company) — here: plantation company whose occupation of 32,000 hectares was found by the 2010 review; there: Plantation company (GSFF subsidiary)
- Dutch pension fund ABP held a stake in a Mozambique forest fund Mozambique · 2007–2011
- ABP (Pension fund) — here: Dutch public-sector pension fund; investor in forest land and Brazilian meat shares; there: Dutch public-sector pension fund; 60 percent investor in the fund
- Global Solidarity Forest Fund (GSFF) (Asset manager) — here: forest fund in which ABP took a 60 percent stake; there: forest fund holding Chikweti Forests of Niassa
- Chikweti Forests of Niassa (Company) — here: plantation company whose occupation of 32,000 hectares was found by the 2010 review; there: plantation company whose occupation of 32,000 hectares was found by the 2010 review
- JBS net-zero pledge to be a 'target', not a 'commitment' United States · 2025
- JBS (Company) — here: Brazilian meat company in which ABP held most of its shares; there: Company whose net-zero claim is the subject of the settlement report
- Unilever sold The Vegetarian Butcher to JBS-owned Vivera in March 2025 Global · 2021–2025
- JBS (Company) — here: Brazilian meat company in which ABP held most of its shares; there: Owner of Vivera; majority owner of BioTech Foods