Money, Millennials and Human Rights: Sustaining 'Sustainable Investing'

Ruggie, John Gerard; Middleton, Emily

doi:10.2139/ssrn.3206715

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Regarding the former, several decades of research shows the disappointing results from this approach due to structural flaws in voluntary sustainability reporting and certification mechanisms and the power of corporations to influence their implementation on the ground 22,62 . With respect to the latter, investor efforts to pressure firms via ratings on their environmental, social and governance performance have been hampered by unreliable and inconsistent data as well as a weak conceptualization of human rights within those standards 63 .…”

Section: Strategies To Rein In Corporate Power In Food Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The problem with growing corporate concentration and power in the global food system

Clapp

2021

Nat Food

158

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relatively small number of transnational firms have come to wield a high degree of influence within the global food system. Recent years have seen firms all along agrifood supply chains merge and acquire one another, to form giant 'mega-companies' that are central players in what can only be described as a profound reconfiguration of the world food economy. This process is happening in markets for farm inputs, agricultural commodity trading, and food processing and retail [1][2][3] . In parts of the global food system where just a few giant firms control a large share of the marketplace, these firms can influence the types of seeds farmers plant, what crops are grown, what breeds of livestock are raised and in what types of facilities, working conditions for food system workers, and the types and prices of food items that appear on grocery store shelves, to name just a few examples.There is long-standing concern that powerful firms in concentrated markets are more incentivized to advance the short-term interests of their shareholders rather than the public good 4,5 , a concern that extends to food systems. Civil society groups worry that concentrated agrifood firms might pursue profit maximization strategies in ways that undermine the livelihoods of small-scale producers, push up prices, limit product choices and damage the environment. As preparations are underway for the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit (UNFSS), which has goals of making food systems more equitable, healthy and sustainable, civil society groups have expressed concern that the Summit agenda does not sufficiently focus on the implications of corporate power in food systems 6 . This relative neglect is especially puzzling in the context of growing global concern about the potential harm from concentrated markets in other sectors, such as Big Tech. Because food systems are so important for multiple reasons-food is a basic need as well as a basic human right, food systems provide livelihoods for nearly a third of humanity, and food systems are intimately connected to ecosystems-it is imperative that we have a better understanding of the potential consequences of corporate concentration and power in the sector.This Perspective examines the implications of corporate power in one highly concentrated sector-the global seed and agrochemical industry-that has become more consolidated in recent years 7,8 . The merger of Dow and DuPont in 2015, which spun out a new agricultural input firm, Corteva Agriscience, was one of three major mergers that the agricultural seed and chemical industry saw in the 2015-2018 period. ChemChina purchased Syngenta in early 2016, shortly after the Dow-DuPont deal was announced, and in 2018 Bayer purchased Monsanto. What was already a highly concentrated industry dominated by what were known as the Big Six firms since the early 2000s is now dominated by just four large firms: Bayer, Corteva, ChemChina-Syngenta and BASF (which grew by purchasing assets the other firms sold to get their merger deals approved by regulators).Closer exam...

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Section: Strategies To Rein In Corporate Power In Food Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The problem with growing corporate concentration and power in the global food system

Clapp

2021

Nat Food

158

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“…However, generational identity is instinctively opposing the long-standing rules of the game: 76% of U.S. Millennials believe that business can be a force for social good but that only 59% of multinational corporations play that role today [74]. Furthermore, Millennial investors are twice as likely as others to invest in companies that incorporate social practices and generally see the sphere of economics as value-oriented, not value-neutral [75,76].…”

Section: Will They Really Change Capitalism? the Collective Action DImentioning

confidence: 99%

A Postcapitalistic People? Examining the Millennial Generation’s Economic Philosophies and Practices

Zachara¹

2021

Sustainability

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This article investigates the economic orientations of the members of the Millennial generation, so as to assess possible shifts towards their adoption of degrowth philosophy and practice. The text provides a general literature review oriented towards indicating the link between the Millennial generation’s economic standpoints and possible directions of evolution of the economic system in the Western world. An orientation towards the market and its economic system has become one of the distinctive features embedded in the portrait of the Millennials, who not only create the dominant social force of the Western world but also represent the first generation in which the majority question well-established market philosophies. The article considers the potential contribution of the Millennial generation to the further development of alternatives to traditional notions of growth. Until now, the evolution of the economic framework has been pushed forward mainly by policymakers and government representatives. System designers have shaped the desired outcomes via international agreements, internal policies, and the empowerment of different economic actors, driven by a belief in the long-term benefits of the capitalism–democracy nexus. However, this moment in history, in which such principles are being seriously questioned, creates a space for bottom-up processes and the reconfiguration of economic realities with a potentially transformative effect on the whole framework.

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Money, Millennials and Human Rights: Sustaining 'Sustainable Investing'

Cited by 2 publications

References 10 publications

The problem with growing corporate concentration and power in the global food system

The problem with growing corporate concentration and power in the global food system

A Postcapitalistic People? Examining the Millennial Generation’s Economic Philosophies and Practices

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