Investors With $13 Trillion Urge Climate Approach to Superbugs

(Bloomberg) -- Investors with more than $13 trillion in combined assets are calling on global policymakers to set a science-based target to curb the spread of superbugs, drawing inspiration from a similar blueprint used to tackle planet-warming emissions.

Legal & General Investment Management and Aviva Investors are among 80 institutions that have signed an open statement seeking an international framework and scientific panel to address the challenge of bacterial resistance around the globe.

Antimicrobial resistance, also known as AMR, kills nearly 1.3 million people a year and occurs when germs become resistant to drugs. If left unchecked, it could lead to an estimated $1 trillion in additional healthcare costs by 2050, as well as a 3.8% loss of global gross domestic product and about 10 million deaths annually, according to a report published last month. 

The United Nations brought attention to the topic at a high-profile meeting in 2016 but momentum has since stalled. AMR is now a “systemic risk akin to climate change and nature loss,” the investor group said in a statement Tuesday. It jeopardizes “global financial markets, economic stability and long-term value generation.” The statement was published by an initiative called Investor Action on AMR.

The push for a science-based target is a nod to the 2015 Paris Agreement that set a goal of limiting global warming to below 1.5C from pre-industrial times. Beyond this threshold more severe climate events are likely to occur, according to scientists. 

“We need to do exactly the same thing on AMR — we need to understand where and how antibiotics are used,” Emma Berntman, senior engagement specialist at the investor network FAIRR Initiative, said in an interview.

Bacteria’s growing immunity to many common drugs has been driven by the overuse of antibiotics in humans and animals. It makes infections harder to treat and raises the risk of surgery, cesarean sections and cancer treatments.

“From agriculture to the water supply, food processing to healthcare, AMR poses material financial risks across a number of critical value chains,” said Maria Larsson Ortino, senior global ESG manager, health lead at Legal & General Investment Management.

The battle to control superbugs is currently undermined by weak coordination among countries and government agencies, poor data and the difficulty of quantifying the short-term financial impact on companies. Scientific targets could help companies and investors set policies and shape national action plans, Berntman said. 

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