Global Child Forum Wins the CFA Sweden ESG Award 2023

Global Child Forum, a leading advocate for children’s rights and corporate social responsibility, is proud to announce that it has been awarded the prestigious CFA Sweden ESG Award for 2023. This accolade is presented annually by CFA Society Sweden to recognise outstanding contributions toward integrating Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations into the investment process. Specifically, this award acknowledges Global Child Forum’s dedication to ensuring that children’s rights are a central aspect of ESG considerations, emphasising the critical role that safeguarding young individuals plays in responsible corporate practices and sustainable investments.

Global Child Forum is dedicated to advancing children’s rights and fostering a more sustainable society by engaging with global corporations, financial institutions, and policymakers. The organisation’s influential work includes producing the largest global children’s rights and business benchmark, which investors actively use to inform investment decisions based on robust child rights and ESG criteria.

Katarina Mellström, Secretary General of Global Child Forum, expressed her gratitude following the award recognition: “We are deeply honoured to receive the CFA Sweden ESG Award, which underscores the vital role of the investor community in advocating for child rights within corporate practices. Our benchmark empowers investors to hold companies accountable for their actions regarding child rights, aligning investments with ethical practices. This accountability fosters a sustainable business environment and offers substantial benefits for companies and investors alike by enhancing reputation, ensuring compliance, and building trust in the marketplace.”

Currently, investors with 7.9 trillion USD AUM are using Global Child Forum’s data and insights. Matthew Goodwin, Head of Sustainable Investing at Global Child Forum, added, “This award is a testament to the vital role of transparent and accountable ESG practices in the investment community. Our benchmark provides clear, actionable insights that empower investors to make informed decisions that produce better outcomes for society, proving that good practices in child rights are not just ethical, but make sound business sense too.”

John Howchin, member of CFA Society Sweden’s ESG Committee and responsible for the Award’s nomination process, commented on the decision to honour Global Child Forum: “Children’s rights is an issue that is more important than ever due to a wide array of reasons: the post-COVID economic downturn impacting livelihoods deep down in the supply chains of many companies, the continued pressure of digital platforms focusing on children, and many more. Global Child Forum’s benchmark has focused on bringing the issue of children’s rights to the investment community in an accessible format for many years, offering concrete data that supports engagement with companies and responsible investment decisions. This year’s CFA Sweden ESG Award is a mark of their dedication to improving children’s rights worldwide and reminding us not to lose sight of this important issue.”

The recognition by CFA Society Sweden highlights Global Child Forum’s ongoing commitment to enhancing the integration of ESG considerations into the fabric of financial and corporate sectors. It also reaffirms the organisation’s role as a pivotal influence in the global discourse on sustainability and corporate governance.

The CFA Sweden ESG Award was presented to Global Child Forum at the Society’s Annual Forecast Dinner on April 25 in Stockholm.

Previous recipients of the CFA Sweden ESG Award are:

• 2022 – ChemSec – the International Chemical Secretariat
• 2021 – Anthropocene Fixed Income Institute and Ulf Erlandsson
• 2018 – Norrsken Foundation
• 2017 – Corporate Human Rights Benchmark (CHRB)
• 2016 – Örebro Kommun and Region Västmanland
• 2015 – Steven Smit, Morningstar
• 2014 – Mats Andersson AP4, Liza Jonson Storebrand AM and G. Hahn S. Kyrkan
• 2013 – Hennes & Mauritz AB
• 2012 – Peter Norman, Finansdepartementet
• 2011 – Gunilla Hjalmarsson, Meta AM. and Anna Nilsson, Swedbank Robur
• 2010 – Sasja Beslik, Nordea Investment Management

Above: Global Child Forum’s Linda Ravin Lodding, Katarina Mellström, Filippa Bergin, and Matthew Goodwin accept the CFA Sweden ESG Award.

For media inquiries and further information, please contact:

Linda Ravin Lodding

Head of Communications, Global Child Forum

+46 72 387 0248

linda.lodding@globalchildforum.org

President: Fredrik Nilsson, CFA

Vice President:  Alexander Öhrn, CFA.

CFA Society Sweden: info@cfasweden.se

Founded in 2009 by the Swedish Royal Family, Global Child Forum is a leading forum for children’s rights and business dedicated to innovative thinking, knowledge-sharing and networking. Global Child Forum believes in the power and responsibility of business, working in partnership with all parts of society, to create a prosperous, sustainable and just society for the world’s children. In addition to forums, Global Child Forum delivers research perspectives, best practices and risk assessment tools designed to unlock opportunities for business to integrate children’s rights into their operations and communities. For more information, please visit: www.globalchildforum.org.

The CFA Society Sweden’s ESG Committee is composed of John Howchin and Henrik Malmsten. Howchin is the former Secretary-General of Council on Ethics for the First, Second, Third and Fourth Swedish national pension funds. Currently, he oversees sector strategy for the work on the Transition Decade project with the focus on the hard to abate sectors, at IIGCC and for the Climate Action100+ project, among many other engagements. Malmsten is the founder of Durable Vision Invest. An experienced portfolio manager and entrepreneur, he has a history of working in the environment industry.