A group of over 30 investors representing $7.3 trillion in assets under management has urged the G20 to align agricultural subsidies with their climate and nature goals by the end of the decade.
The group, which includes Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) and BNP Paribas Asset Management, issued the call to the G20 countries’ finance chiefs ahead of the next G20 summit which is to be held in September, according to a statement seen by Reuters.
The demand marks the first time investors have come together to tackle global subsidies in this manner and follows a 2021 request to the European Union over concern about the risks to investment portfolios of climate-related inaction.
Two separate 2021 reports, one from the United Nations and the other from the U.K. government highlighted the damage to nature that is caused by agricultural subsidies. The U.N. report said that 87% of annual subsidies granted to agricultural producers included measures that were potentially harmful to nature and human health, while the U.K. report cited that subsidies cause $4 trillion to $6 trillion in damage to nature each year.
The latest investor call follows on from a global deal signed in December 2022 at the COP15 summit, in which signatories pledged to work to preserve biodiversity and reform agricultural subsidies.
“Investors are calling on the G20 to lead by example and ensure these commitments are met – to the benefit of climate and nature,” said Helena Wright, policy director at the FAIRR Initiative, a group of investors focused on agricultural issues.