Stockholm (NordSIP) – The Council on Ethics for the Swedish National Pension Funds (Etikrådet) believes the strengthening of its team has resulted in more effective coverage of the thousands of holdings in the nation’s AP pension buffer funds. The organisation published its 2024 annual report on 17 March 2025, which provides an overview of screening and engagement activities.
Thanks to the additional resources, the Council has been able to supplement its reactive activities with proactive work on various sustainability-related themes. Executive Director Jenny Gustafsson explains: “As two sustainability specialists joined the Council of Ethics in January of 2024, we have been able to further develop the various projects and company dialogues in our five focus areas. The proactive work provides an opportunity to promote long-term positive change in areas which constitute sustainability risks in the AP Funds’ portfolios. Prioritising and focusing our work on these projects also makes it possible to formulate clear expectations on companies related to sustainability issues which may be considered less mature, such as antimicrobial resistance (AMR).”
As well as AMR, the Council focused on child and forced labour, climate change, tech companies and human rights, water, and a project on biodiversity and food production. The choice of themes is based on a long-term outlook of the key risks faced by the AP funds, incorporating the dual materiality concept of portfolio companies’ risk exposure and the impacts of their own value chains on the world. In selecting these themes and their underlying proactive projects, the council considers those areas where the APO funds can exert maximum influence.
The Council’s ongoing reactive screening of the 3,307 companies held by the AP funds continues alongside the thematic work, with 77 reactive dialogues having taken place over the past year. This resulted in 8 companies successfully addressing the Council’s concerns and being removed from the watch list, while one company was ultimately recommended for exclusion. The screening and engagement criteria are based on international norms and conventions subscribed to at national level. 61% of the engagement activity related to social issues, 25% to governance, and 14% to climate change.
The Council on Ethics annual report provides details of several examples of positive engagement, as well the rationale for excluding Indian firm Bharat Electronics. The latter company was found to be supplying the Myanmar military with weaponry and equipment that are used against the country’s civilian population. The company declined to engage in a dialogue with the Council and has been recommended for exclusion on this basis and due to its violations of UN and OECD guidelines.
The Council on Ethics 2024 Swedish language annual report is available to download from the organisation’s website. An English language version will be available later this month.
