Document properties
Title:	Which activities or practices are controversial?
Date of publishing:	September 20, 2011
Hits:	1509
Category:	Other content
Language:	English
Also available in the following languages:	Dutch, French

Which activities or practices are controversial?

Controversial activities are activities related to:

1. harmful chemicals
2. sex industry
3. GMO's in food
4. alcohol
5. animal testing.

If any involvement is detected, it will be thoroughly investigated.In certain cases a company can still qualify to be included in the Investment Register.

Of course, Forum ETHIBEL considers this involvement as non-desirable, but we think it is important to look at each activity in a wider context and consider the exact impact.The investigation could reveal, for instance, that the impact of the involvement is so minor that exclusion would not be appropriate.

This list of topics and controversial items is continuously evaluated and adjusted and is prepared by means of intense contacts with several NGOs and movements with relevant expertise (trade unions, environmental organisations, peace movements, North-South organisations, consumer associations, ...).We also open a dialogue with business life and lobby groups to get an overall idea about the impact of certain activities.Forum ETHIBEL does not take a principal stand in this matter, but finds that some products and services do not belong in a sustainable social model or that some practices are not widely accepted in society.

Read also:

• Which businesses will be assessed?
• The outline of the assessment process
• Collecting information for the assessment
• Origin and basis of the assessment method
• International standards and conventions which support the Ethibel assessment method
• Evaluated domains and evaluation criteria
• The positive selection criteria
• Evaluation per industry
• 3 aspects of the assessment
• How are companies quoted and classified?
• Negative or exclusion criteria
• How are ratings assigned?
• The advantages of Forum ETHIBEL rating for companies
• Also government bonds