Collaborations & External Partnerships
Industry collaborations are an important part of our sustainability efforts. As a research-driven firm, we are constantly in pursuit of new insights and seek to collaborate with thought leaders in the global sustainable investing community—including academics, research institutions, NGOs, and data providers—on initiatives that align closely with our research objectives.
The financial implications of extreme weather events are becoming increasingly apparent for the private sector. However, while investors are aware of the need to integrate physical climate risks in financial decision-making, approaches to addressing it remain nascent, fragmented and unfamiliar. The systemic nature of physical climate risk therefore requires systemic risk management and a two-fold approach from private capital: (1) making investment portfolios resilient to these risks, and (2) also actively investing in resilience measures to strengthen the broader ecosystem. As part of Bridgewater’s partnership with the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, we contributed to the publication of Investing in Tomorrow: A Guide to Building Climate-Resilient Investment Portfolios.
As institutional investors increasingly focus on the issue of modern slavery, the lack of reliable and comparable data is a fundamental barrier to effective investor engagement. Bridgewater therefore launched a major collaborative partnership with leading global modern slavery experts aimed at developing quality data on potential modern slavery risks hidden in company supply chains. This grew out of the Brookings Institution and Rockefeller Foundation’s 17 Rooms initiative, which aims to generate tangible progress toward each of the 17 UN SDGs. Our co-CIO for Sustainable Investing, Carsten Stendevad, was featured in a piece by the Rockefeller Foundation telling the story of the Forced Labor Open Risk Estimation Tool (FLORET).
Nature is fundamental to societal and economic function, yet it is in decline. In 2023, six of nine planetary boundaries, representing the safe operating space of various earth functions, were surpassed. A partial collapse of ecosystem services could reduce global gross domestic product (GDP) by US$2.7 trillion by 2030. Conversely, opportunities arise from investments in conserving natural resources. For example, impacts linked to water stress risk were estimated at US$301 billion (in 2020), whereas addressing these risks would cost just US$55 billion. As part of Bridgewater’s partnership with the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, we contributed to the publication of Scaling Finance for Nature: Barrier Breakdown.
In this first interview of the “17 Rooms” podcast, Kristen Leanderson Abrams and Carsten Stendevad discuss the role institutional investors can play in the fight against forced labor and modern slavery. Abrams, senior director for combatting human trafficking at the McCain Institute, and Stendevad, co-CIO for Sustainability at Bridgewater Associates, moderated Room 17 focused on Sustainable Development Goal number 17—on Partnerships—during the 17 Rooms flagship process.