The Swedish AP funds' Council on Ethics continued its "proactive work" to address systemic issues in 2025, in a year marked by increased levels of conflict, growing polarisation in key sustainability areas, and rapid technological development.

Its annual report for 2025 revealed that it maintained its focus on five priority areas: Antimicrobial resistance, child labour and forced labour, climate transition, tech companies and human rights, and water.

Overall, the council reviewed 3,007 companies for involvement in violations of international conventions and guidelines, and if violations were identified, dialogues with companies were initiated.

In 2025, 155 companies participated in proactive and reactive dialogues with the council.

The council said it made positive progress with several companies involved in reactive dialogues in 2025. In total, it conducted 67 reactive dialogues during the year.

For example, seven companies successfully resolved dialogues during the year, and a total of 30 milestones were reached.

The council placed particular emphasis on responsible mining and the impact of big tech companies on human rights in 2025. And the work involving companies with links to conflicts was particularly extensive and required deep analysis and prioritisation.

Council on Ethics chair of the board during 2025, Fredric Nyström, said that in a turbulent global environment, the importance of the Council on Ethics’ work becomes “particularly clear”.

“With joint analytical capacity and a strong voice in engagement efforts, the Council on Ethics plays an important role in the AP Funds’ long-term sustainability work,” Nyström said.

Adding to this, Council on Ethics executive director, Jenny Gustafsson, noted that during 2025, the council made several important advancements in its prioritised focus areas.

“For example, we stepped up our work in the Mining 2030 project, which focuses on the responsible extraction of critical minerals,” Gustafsson said, and explained that this has resulted in concrete recommendations for the mining industry and investors, which the council see as a “very positive development”.

“In addition, we continued our collaboration with other investors within the Big Tech & Human Rights project. Together, we advocate for the big tech companies to take responsibility for how their products impact society and human rights,” she concluded.

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