Sweden’s AP7 has blacklisted a further seven companies from its investable universe, bringing the total to 93 companies.

The fund reviews its blacklist twice a year, in June and December, with the purpose of it being to persuade companies that do not act responsibly to change their behaviour. It works in hand with AP7’s other tools, such as company dialogues and voting at general meetings.

Of the seven new blacklisted companies, five are blacklisted due to the Paris Agreement. These are China Power International Development Ltd, China Shenhua Energy Company Ltd, Huadian Power International Corp Ltd, Shanxi Lu'An Environmental Energy Development Co. Ltd and TBEA Co. Ltd.

The other two companies that are now blacklisted are Wärtsilä Corporation for involvement in the production of components for nuclear weapons and Ratch Group Public Co. Ltd. based on inadequate human rights management and compensation in connection with a collapsed hydropower plant in Laos.

AP7 invests in the companies that accept in an acceptable way the requirements of the international conventions that Sweden has signed and which are expressed in the UN Global Compact's 10 principles, which describe companies' responsibility for human rights, working conditions, the environment and anti-corruption.

AP7 also blacklists companies that participate in the development and production of nuclear weapons. As of the review in December 2016, the Paris Agreement to the UN Climate Convention is one of the standards on which the analysis is based.

Since December 2020, companies with a large absolute climate impact in coal have been blacklisted with expansion plans for their fossil fuel operations. The focus is on coal companies as research has shown that decommissioning coal as an energy source is the single most important measure to curb climate change.

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