BBFAW: Australian financial institutions sign-up as “collaborators”

Two major Australian financial institutions have voluntarily signed up to a UK animal welfare benchmark’s global collaborator initiative.

Two of Australia’s largest financial institutions have defended their affiliation with an animal welfare benchmark, claiming a “shifting mindset” on animal agriculture.

The nation’s first ethical investment manager Australian Ethical, and Sydney-based global investment manager AMP are among 32 signatories to the Business Benchmark for Farm Animal Welfare’s global investor collaboration initiative.

The United-Kingdom based benchmark – set-up by two animal welfare organisations Four Paws and Compassion in World Farming – recently signalled it would begin ranking global food producers and retailers on their efforts to reduce their reliance on animal-derived food.

As participating BBFAW investors, AMP and AE write annually to companies ranked by the benchmark about the need to see animal welfare as a business risk.

Australian Ethical does not invest in conventional animal agriculture companies. PICTURE: ZOE PHILLIPS

AE’s ethical stewardship lead Amanda Richman said the company’s charter, written in 1986, supports the dignity of “non-human animals and avoids investments that cause them unnecessary harm”.

“We support the BBFAW initiative because we recognise that animals suffer in many current forms of conventional animal agriculture, and we see our involvement in the benchmark as a way to leverage our position as an investor to positively influence other listed companies to consider animal welfare,” Ms Richman said.

Australian Ethical does not invest in conventional animal agricultural companies, including free-range egg production and organic production.

Victorian Farmers Federation president Emma Germano questioned whether the company was genuinely concerned about animals or had given any thought to the crippling ripple effect an end to animal agriculture would have on regional and remote communities.

“It’s just disingenuous marketing and I find it disturbing because there are so many implications to this dogma,” Ms Germano said.

“Is the entire (AE) board vegan? The hypocrisy is wild. The only reason we have the opportunity to be such hypocrites is because we have an abundance of food around us.”

An AMP spokesman said the bank was committed to responsible investment that “reflected the expectations of its investors”.

He said it does not finance companies that derive more than 10 per cent of revenue from live animal export, in line with that expectation.

Ms Richman said animal welfare was an issue AE’s members and the public cared about, and cited the federal government commissioned 2018 Future Eye report that looked at Australia’s “shifting mindset on farm animal welfare”.

“It found that Australians do care about animal welfare and that when they find out about standard practices in Australian animal agriculture, they think those practices cruel,” Ms Richman said.