Reducing meat consumption would mitigate the risk of pandemics

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FarmAnimals

Reducing meat consumption would mitigate the risk of pandemics

3 April 2020
News
Three out of every four new or emerging infectious diseases in humans come from animals.

As a result, investors who focus on the interplay between environmental and public health issues say their work had only just begun to gain traction. Investors can reduce environmental and pandemic risks (both in their portfolios and out in the world) by dumping companies with factory farm products or engaged in deforestation. They can also push meat companies to cut antibiotic use (reducing the risk of antibiotic-resistant super-bugs) or invest in makers of meat alternatives.

Jeremy Coller, chief investment officer of Coller Capital, agrees. Also the founder of London-based investor network Farm Animal Investment Risk & Return, Coller sees more bad news for big meat companies that are already under fire for environmentally destructive business models.

After Covid-19, many investors will shift capital away those businesses most exposed to the risk of the next zoonotic.