In the impoverished West African country of Liberia, a unit of the world¡¯s second-largest palm oil company has admitted to destroying forests and violating the rights of indigenous people. Yet its parent is among the industry¡¯s leaders in investor ratings for environmental and social policies.
Golden Agri Resources Ltd. acknowledged in February that its Golden Veroleum Liberia (GVL) unit hadn¡¯t done enough to compensate local residents for business practices that included razing part of one of the planet¡¯s richest biodiversity regions. Among the company¡¯s shareholders is BlackRock Inc., the world¡¯s largest asset manager, whose chairman Larry Fink has made combating climate change a focus for the $9.5 trillion of assets his firm manages.
Part of Golden Agri¡¯s attraction for investors is that it tops a global list of more than two dozen agricultural producers and wholesalers for its environmental efforts, and ranks fourth on social-related issues, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. And while the industry¡¯s performance as a whole isn¡¯t good ¡ª Golden Agri rose to the top of the environment chart with a score of only 4 out of 10 ¡ª it makes the company the best of the pack for investors that need to keep a diverse portfolio.
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