Weekly Dose of ESG — Octopussy
Octopussy
Friday 26th November 2021
What is going on?
While many of you long suspected it, it is nice to have it confirmed — animals have feelings.
The UK has extended its Animal Welfare Bill to include octopuses, crabs and lobsters as sentient beings. The extension to the current scope of animals included in the Bill, came as a result of London School of Economics research suggesting that there is strong scientific evidence that these animals have the capacity to experience “pain, pleasure, boredom, excitement, frustration, anxiety, and joy”… This is hardly surprising for anyone, who watched the Oscar award winning movie My Octopus Teacher, that followed South African filmmaker forming an unique bond with an octopus.
Humane Society International and other animal-rights networks praised the UK evidence-based approach, stating that the research on animals’ sentience has to be based in science and not on political preference, cultural preference or convenience. The Bill will aim to limit cruel commercial practices and protect animals from painful deaths such as boiling lobsters alive.
Why is it important?
Caring about animal rights is simply the smart and right thing to do.
- We are part of an ecosystem and should respect pets, livestock and wild animals alike. Many of us have dogs or cats and we would do anything to protect them, so why not extend this attitude beyond our house?
- Ethics aside, animal welfare ought to be considered for commercial purposes as an obvious ESG risk in the food industry. Supply chain management, mortality rates, antibiotic use or reputational damages, are issues affecting food’s company profitability. The need to assess the food industry’s relationship with its animal practices lead to the formation of the Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare, which allows investors to asses welfare management, policy commitment, performance and disclosure in food companies.
- Last but least, we are still in the middle of a global pandemic, the cause of which is linked to the treatment of the live-animals market. Intensive farming, associated with issues such as antibiotics resistance, is responsible for more than half of all infectious diseases passing between animals and people since 1940. Considering the improvement of animal-welfare through more viable farming practices could help us on the health front too.
Ethics, commercials, and health… what else do we need to start caring about animal-rights?
What is the message?
Animal welfare concerns farmers, investors, consumers, and the animals themselves. Your attitude can be reflected in your actions, from your dinner plate to alignment of your investment portfolio. If you are an animal-welfare minded investor and would like to limit your allocation to any animal-based products, check out our recent Vegan Investing paper to learn more about this trend.
In the meantime why not re-watch Bond’s Octopussy or the above mentioned octopus documentary.
See you next week!
Paula & Nicolas
