2007
The Council on Ethics is established. The Council on Ethics’ first report is published. Dialogue is conducted with 14 companies. One company can already be removed from the dialogue list in the first year because the objectives of the dialogue have been achieved. The Council on Ethics travels to China to learn more
about companies’ approach to social responsibility and sends a clear message: there are foreign investors willing to take their responsibility as owners.
2008
The objectives for three dialogues are achieved; for example, a French company adopts and implements a human rights policy in response to inhumane conditions found at refugee accommodation centres in the UK. The UN adopts the Convention on Cluster Munitions, and the Council on Ethics recommends exclusion of nine companies.
2010
Together with a group of Canadian investors, the Council on Ethics prompts Goldcorp, the mining company, to carry out an independent evaluation of the extent
to which human rights are taken into account at the Marlin Mine in Guatemala. This leads to the company adopting a large number of measures in order to improve the situation – a process which has a ripple effect, as a number of other mining companies turn to Goldcorp to learn from its experiences. John Howchin is
appointed Secretary General.
2011
The Council on Ethics expands the scope of its work by carrying out its first proactive project, focused on the mining industry. The goal of the proactive work is to
encourage companies to work towards adopting best practices in challenging sustainability areas. When the project is reviewed in 2014, the Council on Ethics notes general improvements in all of the areas discussed with the companies.
2012
The cocoa industry, tobacco industry and anti-corruption measures are the themes of several proactive projects the Council on Ethics runs or is involved
in. Highlighting both the strengths and weaknesses of the companies’ sustainability strategies has proven to be an effective way to ensure that they adopt
measures.
2013
The Council on Ethics arranges a seminar about financing the transition to a low carbon society. Politicians, stakeholder organisations and investors participate. The telecommunications sector is in the spotlight in one of the Council on Ethics' proactive initiatives. The Council on Ethics decides to implement a four-year time limit for reactive dialogues
2015
The Council on Ethics hosts a Nordic seminar about the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), also known as the Ruggie Principles. The aim is to inspire Nordic companies to implement the principles and report in line with them.
2017
The Council on Ethics celebrates its ten-year anniversary by organising two seminars on responsible and sustainable investment, with a focus on climate change, human rights and the environment. Al Gore and Johan Rockström participate in one of the seminars.
2018
The Council on Ethics recommends the AP Funds to exclude three cannabis companies, as they are assessed to be in breach of the UN conventions on narcotics since they manufacture and/or market cannabis-based products for non-medicinal use. The Council on Ethics decides to focus its proactive work on three sustainability areas: climate and environment, human rights and business ethics.
2019
The mining company Vale’s tailings dam, in Brumadinho, Brazil, collapses with catastrophic consequences. The Council on Ethics was already engaged in an ongoing dialogue with the company following a similar accident two years earlier. The Council on Ethics recommended the AP Funds to exclude Vale. Shortly
thereafter, the Church of England Pensions Board and the Council on Ethics initiated a major joint project to ensure that mining companies globally take responsibility for their tailings dams.
2020
The work focused on enhanced safety for tailings dams results in the creation of a public global database with information about more than 1,800 tailing dams, and in the establishment of the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management. The Council on Ethics’ Mining and Tailing Dam Safety Initiative wins the PRI Stewardship Project of the Year Award. The Council also publishes an expectations document related to human rights and the tech sector, in collaboration with the Danish Institute for Human Rights.
2021
In 2021, the Council on Ethics closed a successful three-year project focusing on safety in mine tailings dams. The expectations document “Tech Giants and Human
Rights – Investor Expectations” is used in dialogues and plays a part in improvements at tech companies. In 2021, the Swedish National Audit Office audited the sustainability work of the AP Funds and the Council on Ethics, and found it to be effective.
2022
The AP Funds complete a review of the Council on Ethics’ mandate, strategy and organisation, concluding that the Council on Ethics remains an important body for collaboration between the AP Funds and an essential part of the AP Funds’ joint sustainability work. The Council on Ethics launched a new proactive international collaboration to positively influence the human rights practices of major tech companies. Two proactive projects, which are considered to have achieved their objectives with good effect, were concluded during the year.
2023
The Head of the Council on Ethics took up her post and by the end of the year two sustainability specialists had been recruited. The AP Funds and the Council on Ethics carry out a materiality analysis and identify five new focus areas for proactive work: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), Child labour and forced labour, Climate transition, Tech companies and human rights, and Water. Four new proactive projects were launched in these five focus areas.
2024
Work in the five focus areas is further developed, among others through a new international initiative focused on the demand for green steel and a collaboration aimed at raising awareness about the systemic risk of AMR. Two proactive projects are successfully concluded during 2024. In total, the Council on Ethics engages
with 174 companies – both proactive and reactive dialogue.