Criteria
Triodos Bank bases its decision whether or not to invest in or provide funding to a company on a wide range of minimum standards.
These standards are dynamic. Triodos Bank's research team monitors legislative and regulatory developments, trends and corporate behaviour in order to ensure that the criteria are aligned with the latest developments in our society. This usually entails a periodic tightening of standards in order to ensure that Triodos selects only the real front-runners within a sector.
In 2008 we updated a number of minimum standards, meaning a number of standards have become stricter. The following changes were made:
- Human rights: for companies that are highrisk for involvement in violations of human rights, the lack of a human rights policy was added as a reason for exclusion. In the process of selecting companies for the funds, Triodos Bank takes various aspects of human rights into account. This addition is relevant for non-worker related human rights, like civil and political rights. In the past, companies were only excluded when they directly and substantially contributed to or profited from structural and serious violations of human rights by the government or other parties. However, it often is not clear whether such violations occur. This is why we made the standards stricter for companies that operate in countries that are known for frequent violations of human rights and that are active in industries with a high risk of involvement in violations. These companies must show their awareness of the risk through the implementation of an adequate policy.
- Environmental damage and biodiversity: these minimum standards were extended with specific requirements for sustainable fishing practices and the responsible use of palm oil.
- Weapons: as of January 1, 2009, any financial involvement of a bank in cluster ammunition or antipersonnel mines will constitute grounds for its exclusion from the investment universe. This also applies to investments for third parties other than through entirely passively invested index funds.
To read further details on Triodos Bank's Investment Criteria, click on the link below.
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- Specialty Chemicals
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