Dutch pension fund ABP held a stake in a Mozambique forest fund
Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.
- The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
A 2010 Mozambican review found that Chikweti Forests of Niassa, held by the Global Solidarity Forest Fund, occupied 32,000 hectares without land-use rights. ABP, which held 60 percent of the fund, acknowledged in 2011 that the investment did not meet its standards but stayed invested.
What happened
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 100-million-dollar Global Solidarity Forest Fund, set up by the Västerås diocese in Sweden and the Norwegian Church's foundation OVF; other sources give 54.5 percent (TNI; IPE and BHRRC, 2011).
A September 2010 review by Mozambique's Ministry of Agriculture and National Directorate of Land and Forests found that Chikweti Forests of Niassa had occupied 32,000 hectares without DUAT land-use rights; the fund rejected the finding (TNI and FIAN, 2013).
In December 2011 ABP acknowledged that the investment did not meet its environmental, social and governance criteria, but it refused to withdraw.
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
Insurers
What we don't know
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Record
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: a World Bank BioCarbon Fund document lists 63,040 hectares of DUAT and 14,250 hectares of planted area for Chikweti.
- None on record What the sources do not say: the current status of the fund and of Chikweti, or whether ABP has since exited; the sources date from 2011 to 2013.
- None on record What the sources do not say: whether local communities were consulted before the land was occupied.
Did the harm stop?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Who paid?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Communities and civil society
Connected cases
- Chikweti forestry plantations (Mozambique) Mozambique · 2007
- ABP (Pension fund) — here: Dutch public-sector pension fund; 60 percent investor in the fund; there: Majority investor in GSFF
- Global Solidarity Forest Fund (GSFF) (Asset manager) — here: forest fund holding Chikweti Forests of Niassa; 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)
- Corio, ABP and forest land investments (Netherlands) Netherlands · 2000–2021
- ABP (Pension fund) — here: Dutch public-sector pension fund; 60 percent investor in the fund; there: Dutch civil-service pension fund; reported main Corio shareholder; GSFF investor
- Global Solidarity Forest Fund (GSFF) (Asset manager) — here: forest fund holding Chikweti Forests of Niassa; 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
- Dutch pension fund ABP added forest land in 2007 and held Brazilian meat shares Netherlands · 2007–2021
- ABP (Pension fund) — here: Dutch public-sector pension fund; 60 percent investor in the fund; there: Dutch public-sector pension fund; investor in forest land and Brazilian meat shares
- Global Solidarity Forest Fund (GSFF) (Asset manager) — here: forest fund holding Chikweti Forests of Niassa; there: forest fund in which ABP took a 60 percent stake
- 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