Crispin Odey has hit out at a non-profit that has highlighted his $90m (£73m) holding in a Brazilian company that has been fined for environmental wrongdoing.
Odey (pictured) is the largest external shareholder in family-controlled business SLC Agricola, which represents a 10.26% weighting in Odey Opus and 9.55% in Odey Allegra International. The Odey Pan European and Swan funds each have close to 5% allocated.
The holdings were highlighted in a report by Global Witness, which noted that his eponymous firm’s holding had reached $170m in February 2019 before nearly halving to its current level.
From the archive: Investors turn up the heat on Amazon fires
Cerrado is home to 5% of world species
It said SLC Agricola had cleared at least 30,000 hectares of the Cerrado in order to make room for soy, corn and cotton. Although the Cerrado is less well known than the Amazon, it is estimated to be home to 5% of the world’s species, including jaguars, giant armadillos and giant anteaters.
It also highlighted that the company had been fined $2.5m by the federal environment agency for wrongdoing between 2007 and 2019. SLC Agricola told the non-profit it was appealing the fines, which had covered breaches such as exploring native forest for business activities and planting soy in embargoed areas.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Odey said Global Witness, which had contacted him for the report, was “not interested in the truth”. “They’re interested in basically chaining themselves to a railing.”
See also: ‘Almost complete failure’: Eight takes on fund firms’ regard for biodiversity
Fines are comparable to a ‘parking fine’
The organisation was founded in 1993 and focuses on human rights and environmental wrongdoing. Former investment manager Mark Hannam is among its non-executive directors.
Odey said fines handed to the agriculture company were comparable to a “parking fine”.
He described the Logemann family that controls the business as the “most trustworthy” of partners.
“These people are not in the game of converting jungle into cotton farms,” he told the newspaper. “This is not like BP getting done in the Gulf of Mexico.”
The Norwegian government pension fund divested from SLC Agricola in Q4 2017. Its annual report that year noted it had sold its position in a Brazilian soy production company due to deforestation concerns.
See also: Biodiversity struggles to achieve momentum of climate funds
